Speaking to AYV, Jennings A.B. Wright Vice President of Sierra Leone Labor Congress stated that the Minimum Wage is effective from the 1st January, 2015 and is exclusive of allowances due the employee.
He disclosed that the minimum wage requirement should have come into effect in September last year, but that as a result of some unsettled arrangements and the Ebola outbreak, authorities concerned decided that January 2015 would be the time for the enforcement of the Minimum Wage Requirement. “And this is simply what we are now doing,” he maintained.
Mr. Wright further disclosed that the barest minimum wage for government worker is still Le 480, 000, adding that by July 2015 this amount will be increased to 550,000, as pronounced by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Kaifala Marrah.
He added that the national minimum wage is subjected to NASSIT and PAYE deductions and that any further enquiries should be made through the Sierra Leone Labour Congress secretariat on 35 Wallace Johnson Street Freetown. He said that workers who have difficulties in getting their minimum wage payment should call at the Sierra Leone Labour Congress for swift action.
Mr. Wright noted that the law on the minimum wage requirement would help employees to live a comfortable life, while stressing that employers should not see the minimum wage requirement as a recipe to lay off their workers. “If employers victimize their employees as a result of the increment in the minimum wage, they would be doing more harm than good to the country’s economy,” he maintained.
Mr. Wright further noted that the national minimum wage covers all categories of workers in Sierra Leone from the domestic workers to the shop attendants. He urged all employing authorities to comply with the new Minimum Wage, adding that it is an offence to pay workers less than the National Minimum Wage.
