Papua New Guineas minimum wage currently stands at K3.50, this is according to Ms Mary Morola, Secretary for the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations (DLIR).
Ms Morola mentioned this during the 3-day National Development Forum this week.
Every three years the government gets together and holds what they call a National Wage Determination review. Here, the minimum wage is then reviewed and changed if agreed upon.
The DLIR reported that in the last nine years, minimum wage went from K3.29 to K3.36 and now to K3.50, and the national government is due for the next wage determination review in 2017.
“Minimum wages means that anyone who has a formal job, who does not necessarily have skills, is to be paid at K3.50 per hour,” said Morola.
She emphasised that for people with skills and or experience, they should be paid at a rate higher than the minimum.
If you are someone with a formal job and you are paid below the minimum wage you can lodge a complaint at the DLIR office. There is a complaints section, she says, where matters like this are taken care of.
Once you lodge a complaint the department can only advise the company to comply with the laws set. They do not penalise companies at their level. DLIR has enforcement officers that do regular checks on companies to see if they comply with the Labour laws which include minimum wages.
