No big pay hike for security guards: S Subramaniam screwed up BIG time!

No big pay hike for security guards By Tan Yi Liang PETALING JAYA: Security guards expecting a hefty jump in their take home pay from July 1 are going to be severely disappointed - the actual wage increases are far lower than announced by the Human Resources Minister on Thursday. Dr S Subramaniam According to a statement from the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan today, the Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam was in error when he announced the 67 to 75% increase for the minimum monthly wage for security guards. "The Minister’s earlier statements to the media regarding the amount of minimum monthly wages for security guards was misleading and had unnecessarily caused much anxiety to the security companies and false expectations on the part of the employees," said Shamsuddin. Subramaniam announced in parliament that the take-home pay for workers in the sector after the increase, which would take effect from July 1 this year would range between RM1,100 and RM1,450 per month, a major step up from the current take-home pay of RM300 to RM400 per month provided for under the Wages Council Act 1947. Over 150,000 Malaysians and 40,000 foreigners working as security guards were expected to benefit from the increase. However, according to a statement issued by the MEF, the actual minimum wages which will kick in from July 1 under Schedule Subsection 2(1) of the Wages Councils (Wages Regulations Order) (Statutory Minimum Remuneration of Private Security Guard) Order 2010 will be much lower. The revised minimum wages according to location are: >Area A – Penang, Selangor, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, and Southern Johor (Johor Baru, Kota Tinggi, Kulaijaya and Pontian) -- minimum wage of RM 700 per month >Area B – Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak, Pahang, Terengganu, Northern Johor (Kluang, Batu Pahat, Mersing, Muar, Ledang and Segamat) and Sarawak -- minimum wage of RM600 per month >Area C – Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan -- minimum wage of RM550 per month, while >Area D – Kedah, Kelantan and Perlis -- minimum wage of RM500 per month According to Shamsuddin, the revised scale was a relief for security companies. "After much anxiety, the security companies employing security guards under private agency licensed under Section 3 of the Private Agencies Act 1971 for the purposes of providing security services are relieved as they are in a better position to manage the increases in terms of costs," said Shamsuddin. Meanwhile, the Securities Services Association of Malaysia wants the government to postpone the pay hike for security guards, scheduled to begin on July 1, to next year. Association president Datuk Shaheen Mirza Habib said that enforcing the pay hike would render 300 Bumiputera security companies to "close shop" as they were currently bound by contracts signed with government agencies, government-linked companies and the private sector. "We are asking for a postponement of six months, that is until Jan 1, 2011, to solve issues concerning the service contracts with the private sector," he said after attending an urgent meeting to discuss the matter here today. He said the association could not afford to give the raise as the value of the contracts signed with their clients remain unchanged. If the pay hike were to be implemented, between 50,000 and 60,000 local workers were expected to lose their jobs, he said. -- theSun

Updated: 05:14PM Thu, 29 Apr 2010