He said the current RM1,000 stipend for workers in the peninsular and RM920 for those in Sabah and Sarawak was still way “too low.”

“If government servants’ salary can be adjusted to be higher than RM1,200 monthly, there is no reason why workers in the private sector cannot benefit,” he said in his Labour Day message today.

Lim said the Federal Government should also provide financial aid to small and medium enterprises as well as employers to overcome the proposed higher minimum wage.

“Without the costs associated with the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal, funding for local employers and local workers can be easily available,” he said.

Last October, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the minimum wage would be increased from RM900 to RM1,000 in the peninsular and RM800 to RM920 in Sabah and Sarawak.

Today, the government announced July 1 as the effective date for the new wage payout.

Deputy Human Resource Minister Ismail Abdul Muttalib told Bernama that employers must comply with the new minimum wage this July. He also urged workers to lodge reports with the authorities if they were not paid the correct wages.

“Employers found guilty can be fined RM20,000 or face five years in prison and fined RM1,000 a day if they continue to commit the offence,” he was quoted as saying.