Increase in minimum wage ensure sufficient retirement savings for EPF contributors

The increase in the national minimum wage announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the tabling of the Budget 2016 will give long-term benefit for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors.

EPF Economic and Capital Market Department head Nurhisham Hussein, in a statement here on Monday, said the increase in the minimum wage would ensure that the contributors, especially among the low-income earners, would have sufficient savings for their retirement.

Najib, when tabling the budget in Parliament last Friday, said that effective from July 1 next year, the national minimum wage would be increased from RM900 to RM1,000 per month for Peninsular Malaysia and from RM800 to RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

He said the new minimum wage would be implemented in all sectors except for domestic services and maids.

Meanwhile, Nurhisham said the increase of the eligibility for mandatory contribution to the Social Security Organisation (Socso), from a monthly salary of RM3,000 to RM4,000, would also provide better protection for workers, most of whom were EPF contributors.

"The EPF welcomed the government's initiatives in introducing and carrying out various efforts to improve the living standard of the people in the low and medium income groups as announced by the prime minister in the budget," he added.