The Labour Ministry and employer representatives are waiting to hear the new government's direction on increasing the daily minimum wage to 400 baht nationwide before making any decisions.
Permanent Secretary for Labour Pairoj Chotikasathien yesterday said the policy approved by the Srettha Thavisin government administration in May could be implemented, but he could not comment further until the new government announced its policy on raising the minimum wage.
Mr Pairoj said if the government reaffirms the rise, the policy will be implemented within the timeframe because the subcommittee in charge of reviewing the provincial minimum wage rates had already sent the minimum wage figures for each province.
He said the minimum wage committee meeting, which was set for August, has been postponed to September.
On May 14, the cabinet resolved to acknowledge the Labour Ministry's proposal to increase the daily minimum wage to 400 baht nationwide, scheduled for October.
Atthayuth Leeyawanich, the employer representative on the wage committee, said he would like to see the new government's stance on the issue but added that if it is announced that the wage must increase to 400 baht this year, employers will not agree.
The hike remains uncertain as the tripartite wage committee, comprising representatives from employees, employers and the government, has yet to reach a conclusion. Within that, the employer side of the committee opposed the government's plan.
Raising the minimum wage is a key policy of the Pheu Thai-led government. The government aims to increase it to 400 baht within its first year in power and to reach 600 baht by 2027.
The nationwide daily minimum wage rose on Jan 1, with the new rates varying between provinces. Based on the committee's decision, they ranged from 330 to 370 baht.
The increases ranged from 2 to 16 baht, averaging 2.37%.
In April, the tripartite wage committee approved an increase to 400 baht for tourism-related businesses and four-star hotels with at least 50 employees in some areas of 10 provinces, including Phuket, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, Pattaya in Chon uri, Chiang Mai City in Chiang Mai and Pathumwan and Watthana districts in Bangkok.
