By B. Suresh Ram

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA - Thousands of workers in the private sector can expect higher salaries soon after the Human Resources Ministry reviews the Wages Council Act 1947.

These include those in the security, hospitality, electronic and textile sectors.

The last time a review was conducted was about a decade ago.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the Wages Council had been reactivated to review salaries in several sectors.

?In the next few months, you will get announcements on a few areas where we have already done our work,? he told the New Straits Times.

Subramaniam said one of the areas where the salary review had been completed was in the security industry, in particular, those employed as security personnel and officers.

?Previously, the salary in this field was as low as RM300 to RM400. Most of them will need to work on 12-hour shifts to get salaries of between RM700 and RM800.? Subramaniam said the ministry intervened to make the changes to enable those working in the sector to earn meaningful salaries.

?This move will also attract more local people to take up jobs in the sector,? he said, adding that the announcement and details would be made soon.

Subramaniam said the other area the ministry was looking at was the hospitality sector.

?Here we have a very peculiar situation. The basic salary is very low, which has impact and repercussion on such things as EPF, Socso contribution and their claims as well as what they get after retirement."

He said the ministry was also looking at the electrical, electronic and textile industries.

Subramaniam said the review of these sectors had only begun recently and it would take between nine months and a year.

"We are now on the lookout for more areas where we feel the salaries are low and see how the government can intervene through the wages council mechanism to ensure reasonable wages."

Subramaniam said apart from increasing salaries via the Wages Council, the ministry was also reviewing applications for foreign workers from prospective local employers.

"The approach we have been taking is to coax the industries to increase their wages."

Subramaniam said, for example, if a factory approached the ministry to seek permission to hire foreign workers, they in turn would be asked about the wages being offered.

"If we find that the salary given was too low for local workers, we then tell them to go back and raise the salaries and look for local workers based on the higher salaries."

Subramaniam said if the prospective employers failed to get local workers even after taking this approach, then they would be allowed to hire foreign workers.

"These are some of the steps that we are taking to ensure that the wages go up."