KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — The government has been called to look into making a productivity-linked wage system (PLWS) mandatory in the country to ensure fair compensation to employees.
National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) council member Datuk AT Kumararajah said the call is aimed at the realisation that Malaysia’s wage system is falling behind and it needed to catch up so that the nation’s aspiration to become a high-income country can be achieved.
“We are aspiring to become a high-income nation, we are there at middle-income or high middle-income nation level…one way to go around is to put in place productivity-linked wage system.
“…so long as we didn’t bring in productivity into our wage system, companies will still look into profitability and that will come primarily from keeping wages lower and I think the government should make it mandatory,” he said as a guest on Bernama TV’s talk show The Brief, earlier today.
Kumararajah was responding to a question on the most pressing issue faced by workers in conjunction with the Labour Day celebration today, themed ‘Workers are the Catalyst of Malaysia MADANI’ (Pekerja Pemangkin Wadah Malaysia MADANI).
Meanwhile, commenting on the theme of this year’s Labour Day celebration, Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani said it shows how important employees are in contributing to the development of not just their organisation but also to the nation’s economy.
“As we know the concept of Malaysia Madani focuses mainly on good governance, sustainable development and racial harmony in the country, and the six pillars are Sustainability, Prosperity, Innovation, Respect, Trust and Compassion.
“This can be translated by employers into ensuring the well-being, welfare and interest of the employees, where the employees are an asset to the company as well as helping to improve the national economy,” he said during the same programme.
— Bernama
