Employers, employee agree on Rs 8,000 minimum salary

Employers and employees have agreed to hike the basic salary by 43.66 per cent and dearness allowance by 9.44 per cent making it a total hike of 29 per cent in minimum salary.

The minimum salary will be Rs 8,000 and daily wage will be Rs 318 from the current Rs 6,200 and Rs 231, respectively, according to president of General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions Bishnu Rimal.

The basic salary will be increased to Rs 5,100 from the current Rs 3,550 and dearness allowance to Rs 2,900 from Rs 2,650, making it a total of Rs 8,000 salary from the current salary of Rs 6,200, he said, adding that the daily wage has been increased by 37.66 per cent to Rs 318 from the current Rs 231.
However, the government is yet to announce it.

Though some trade unions have been asking for Rs 12,500 — double the current salary of Rs 6,200 — and others have been asking for Rs 15,000 minimum salary, claiming that it is insufficient to survive in towns and its suburbs with the present salary and wage structure, the tripartite meeting — including government, employers and employees — yesterday agreed on the said hike.

Earlier, employers — like what employees have been asking — were ready to increase the salary on the basis of annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the central bank. According to law, the minimum salary and wages have to be increased every two years.

Last time, on March 24, 2011, the tripartite Minimum Wages Fixation Committee had fixed a minimum salary of Rs 6,200 and a daily wage of Rs 231.

However, employers have asked for an automatic hike in minimum salary and wages on the basis of inflation rate every two years through the Financial Act that can guarantee the rights of the employees and clear the present confusion in the sector.

Employers have been asking for a scientific method for salary and wage hike — based on annual inflation rate published by the central bank — that will end confusion and help employers concentrate on business expansion rather than having to fear every two years that employees might go on strike.

The government's move to automatically revise minimum salary and wage every two years from the beginning of the new fiscal year will give political parties little room for bickering in the industrial sector and disturb the business environment.

Meanwhile, a splinter of UCPN-Maoist, CPN-Maoist affiliated trade union has objected to the minimum salary and wage despite the three key trade unions associated with Joint Trade Unions Coordination Centre — Nepal Trade Union Congress-Independent, All Nepal Trade Union Federation, and General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions — employers and the government agreeing on it.

They have asked the government to fix a minimum salary of Rs 15,000 that will be sufficient for a family to live in a town, apart from social security schemes including accidents, health care and maternity, and pension.