5 Feb 2009

PNG's Department of Labour and Industrial Relations urged to register wage board

9:09 am on 5 February 2009

Papua New Guinea's Department of Labour and Industrial Relations has been urged to immediately register the 2008 Minimum Wage Board determination to speed up the implementation of the proposed new minimum wage structure for unskilled workers in the country.

Workers on the minimum wage in PNG earn about 14 US dollars for a 44-hour week, but the amount the board approved a rise in two stages to 38 dollars by the end of this year.

The teaching Service Commission consultation and arbitration tribunal member Moses Taian says the department must supervise and monitor the determination to ensure it is fully complied with.

He says the new determination must be implemented promptly to off-set the burden shouldered by low income earners over the last 16 years.

Mr Taian says workers must be informed about the new minimum wage structure and its contents because their rights should not be jeopardised.