Following much deliberation and discourse, the Minimum Wage Board announced the final lowest wage that will be given to employees.
As such, the board declared that the minimum wage of the Maldives will be MVR5,700. However, the lowest salary bracket has yet to be approved by the Ministry of Economic Development.
Moreover, as per the minimum wage rate, civil servants will now become eligible for a minimum wage of MVR7,000 per 6 hours of work per day.
Meanwhile, employees of the private sector; especially serving in small to medium enterprises are subjected to a salary that should not be below MVR5,700. In addition to this, minimum wage has been assigned for hourly-paid works and the overtime pay should be equal to that of the minimum wage.
Furthermore, the minimum wage policy states that the minimum wage should be 70% of the basic salary and if employers provide accommodation and food for employees, the expenses should not be included in the minimum wage.
This is counteracted with fixed allowances, that can be fixed into the pay structure of employees.
Moreover, medium-scale enterprises are required as per the policy, to pay its employees a minimum wage of MVR8,000 for 8 hours of work per day, while large-scale businesses are required to pay employees a minimum wage of MVR10,200 for the same work period per day.
However, the Minimum Wage Board has yet to set a fixed minimum wage for small businesses.