Private sector minimum salary at Rs. 21,000 confirmed

Speaker signs Bill passed without amendments, vote :
Must be applied to EPF, ETF and gratuity payments:
Increase in private sector employee salaries since 2021:

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena yesterday endorsed the certificate on the National Minimum Wage of Workers (Amendment) Bill, making the minimum basic salary for private sector employees Rs.21,000, in accordance with Article 79 of the Constitution.

The Second Reading debate regarding the Bill to amend the National Minimum Wage Act No. 3 of 2016 was held in Parliament on September 3. The Bill was passed without amendments and vote. The Speaker signed the Bill passed in the Parliament making the minimum basic salary for private sector employees Rs.21,000 and according to this, it should be considered as the minimum

salary for the disbursement of funds from the Employees Trust Fund, Employee Provident Fund and gratuity. The Employment Ministry in a press release said that the private sector employers will pay their employees a national minimum monthly wage of Rs. 17,500 and a minimum wage of Rs.21,000 including Rs.3,500 allowances to be paid by the Budget Relief Acts No.36 of 2005 and No.4 of 2016.

The press release said that the minimum wage should be applied to the Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees Trust Fund and gratuity payments.

By introducing the National Minimum Wage Act No.03 of 2016, a National Minimum Wage has been set for all employees working in the private sector with effect from 01.01.2016. The Act initially stipulated a minimum wage of Rs.10,000 for monthly salaried workers and Rs.400 for daily wage workers.

Again, in 2021, through an amendment to this Act, the minimum monthly wage was raised to Rs.12,500 and the daily wage to Rs.500 from August 2021.

With the recent economic crisis in the country, and the increase in the cost of living, there has been no increase in the salaries of private sector employees from 2021, after discussions in the National Labour Consultative Council on several occasions, the national minimum wage was increased from Rs.12,500 to Rs.17,500 by Rs.5,000. A draft Bill was submitted to Parliament to amend the National Minimum Wage Act with the aim of raising the minimum wage from Rs.500 to Rs.700 by Rs.200 as well.

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