We need better monitoring of minimum wage benefits

What we have noticed is that even after reviews, there is poor monitoring to ensure that the minimum wage is paid. This means that a significant number of the targeted workers may not benefit. The reviews therefore mean little to the intended beneficiaries, especially in the private sector. Some of them quit their jobs to join the better paying government labour-based poverty alleviation programmes.

MPs have accused some companies of violating the Employment Act by making their employees to work long hours and paying low wages. These are the issues that the government should address before venturing into poverty eradication shows, which create a dependence mentality on government handouts.