It is now official, Ministry of Labour has gazetted new minimum wage rates for general workers, indicating an 80 percent increase.
The development confirms a story published by The Nation last Thursday that the general minimum wage has moved from K1 923.08 per day or K50 000 per month to K3 461.54 per day or K90 000 per month
A gazette signed notice by Minister of Labour Agnes NyaLonje dated January 16 2024 which we have seen says the law shall come into effect on February 1 2024.
Reads in part the gazette: “The Employment (Minimum Wages) order (hereinafter referred to as the “principal order”) is amended, in paragraph 2 (1) by deleting the figure “K1 923.08” in subparagraph (a) and substituting therefore the figure “K3 461.54.”
It also confirms the new figures for domestic workers, whose minimum wage has been increased by 38 percent from K1 461.54 per day or K38 000 per month to K2 000 per day or K52 000 per month.
“The principal order is amended, in paragraph 3, by deleting the figure “K1 461.54” and substituting therefore, the figure “K2 000.00,” reads the gazette.
This means the general minimum wage hike is K20 000 less than what the Malawi Cogress of Trade Unions (MCTU) was proposing and K3 000 less of what Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi was proposing.
Section 54 of the Employment Act, mandates the Minister of Labour to fix the minimum wages of any group of wage earners after prior consultations with representatives of workers and employers concerned.
In May last year, MCTU held a Tripartite Labour Advisory Council Meeting in Lilongwe where, among other issues, it recommended to government to revise the minimum wage from the current K50 000 to K100 000, representing a 100 percent increase to cushion workers against the prevailing economic hardship.
However, before the minimum wage hike proposal was reviewed, the Reserve Bank of Malawi announced a 44 percent, devaluation of the kwacha, a development that saw the exchange rate adjusted from K1 180.29 to K1 700.00 against the United States dollar in authorised dealer banks amid rising inflation.
Soon after the devaluation, MCTU, which promotes workers’ rights, proposed a 44 percent minimum revision of salaries for workers to cushion them against effects of the devaluation of the kwacha.
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