Labour minister aims to present minimum wage proposal to Cabinet on Nov 12
Phiphat apologises for delay but assures govt will offer THB400 a day wage as New Year’s gift
The proposal on hiking the minimum wage to 400 baht per day was likely to be presented to the Cabinet on November 12, Minister of Labour Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Saturday.
He said that he had coordinated with the Ministry of Finance and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira.
Phiphat said there were some concerns if the proposal could be submitted on time on Tuesday (November 12).
In case there was a slight delay, he said he would request approval from Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to propose it as an urgent agenda.
The earliest possible date for a meeting of the tripartite boards will be by the end of November, once all 15 committee members are confirmed.
If the committee cannot meet by then, the meeting will be rescheduled for early December. If the first meeting in December does not have all 15 committee members, it will call another meeting within 15 days, meaning the second meeting must have at least two-thirds of the total committee members present in order to proceed.
"Therefore, I am confident that we will be able to call a meeting within December. If we complete the meeting, we will announce the minimum wage of 400 baht, along with the professions in the 67 provinces, including Bangkok, where the wage has not yet reached 400 baht. said Phipat.
He added: "I sincerely apologise for the delay. We had planned to announce the 400-baht minimum wage on October 1, but due to technical issues, we were unable to do so. Once we have all 15 committee members, I will discuss with the Labour Ministry permanent secretary to convene a meeting as soon as possible. I am confident that we will be able to offer this as a New Year's gift to our workers."
