The amount to be paid as minimum wage for employees, has been finalized by the Minimum Wage Board.

The board reached the decision on Monday, and it is to be recommended to the Minister of Economic Development, Fayyaz Ismail.

The minimum wage for permanent public sector workers who spend up to six hours at work, is set at MVR 7,000.

Those working in the public sector for less than six hours per day, will be entitled to MVR 33.65 per hour.

In order to lessen the differences in working hours for those employed in both the public and private sectors. With this change, it has been proposed to review the minimum wage for public sector employees.

The board has detailed the minimum wages allocated for different ranges of companies, with MVR 24.04 allocated per hour for workers of the small enterprises. Those employed at medium-sized enterprises will be entitled MVR 33.65 per hour and MVR 42.79 per hour for those employed in bigger companies.

The board revealed that they are yet to decide on a minimum wage for migrant workers, revealing

The Employment Act mandates the economic minister to decide on a minimum wage by the end of 2021. The imposition of a minimum wage was one of the many amendments brought by the People's Majlis to the Employment Act. The act ensures that the minister must decide on the minimum wage and that employers must give the minimum wage to their employees by the end of 2021, focusing specifically on nine sectors.

The industries that were focused on are the agriculture and fisheries industry, the tourism industry, the construction industry, the transport industry, the health sector, the education sector, small and medium enterprises sector, communication and information technology sector and the maritime shipping industry.

A board of 11 members was formed to advise the minister regarding the allocation of a minimum wage. Before the amendment was brought, the government proposed a minimum wage between MVR 4,000 and MVR 8,000, which was followed by major discussions. The minimum wage board recommended the basic salary to be MVR 6,400, with civil servants and those in tourism industry to get a minimum wage between MVR 6,400 and MVR 8,600.