BANDAR PERMAISURI, Oct 21 — Employers have been cautioned against using the new minimum wage rate as the starting salary for all employees, including graduates, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.

He explained that the increase in the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,700, as announced in Budget 2025 on Friday, is intended as a basic wage for workers with lower academic qualifications and skills, including those in the 3D (dirty, dangerous, and difficult) sector.

"It is advisable to offer salaries that reflect employees’ skills and academic qualifications. The minimum wage should not serve as the benchmark for starting salaries for all workers. This adjustment in minimum wage is a strategy designed for the most basic workers, especially the 4.35 million individuals currently earning below RM1,700.

"By aligning salaries with academic qualifications, job roles, and skills, companies can benefit as well. If employees are not compensated fairly, we risk losing talent and face challenges in attracting skilled manpower,” he said to reporters, following the groundbreaking ceremony of the Social Security Organisation (Socso) Eastern Region Rehabilitation Centre, in Merang, today.

During the presentation of Budget 2025 on Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the minister of finance, announced that the minimum wage would rise to RM1,700 per month, effective Feb 1, 2025, and Aug 1, 2025, for employers or small entrepreneurs with fewer than five employees.

Sim emphasised that the wage adjustment period provided was both reasonable and sufficient, urging employers to comply with the established guidelines.

He encouraged anyone, particularly workers aware of labour law violations, including those related to the minimum wage, to report such instances to the ministry, specifically to the Department of Labour, so that appropriate actions can be taken.

He clarified that the increase in the minimum wage rate is not intended to burden employers. Instead, it aims to enhance employees’ purchasing power, which will indirectly generate economic benefits for local entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Regarding the Socso Eastern Region Rehabilitation Centre, expected to be completed in 2027, Sim said that it aligns with the ministry’s 3K aspirations, which focus on enhancing worker welfare, improving skills, and achieving greater productivity.

Meanwhile, the rehabilitation centre, with a construction cost of RM571.8 million, will boast 315 beds and accommodate 400 to 500 patients daily. It will offer a range of treatment services, including medical rehabilitation utilising Neuro-Robotic and Cybernics rehabilitation, as well as innovative therapies like Thalassotherapy, which uses seawater for therapeutic purposes.

Additionally, treatment based on the hippotherapy method, which involves using horses as therapeutic instruments to aid in the physical, mental, and cognitive recovery of patients, will also be available.

Sim noted that the establishment of this third rehabilitation centre, following those in Melaka and Perak, is particularly relevant, given that records show that 15 to 20 per cent of the total cases received at the existing rehabilitation centre are from the east coast states. — Bernama