The Punjab Government has enhanced the monthly minimum wages of the unskilled workers from Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,398 with effect from September 9.
This was disclosed here today by Punjab Labour and Employment Minister Tikshan Sud while presiding over the meeting of the Minimum Wages Advisory Board.
“In order to check the exploitation of teachers, security guards and sweepers working in the private sector or households, they have been brought under the ambit of the Minimum Wages Act,1948,” said Sud.
Nearly 200,000 private security personnel, around 250,000 teachers in private schools all over the state and about 500,000 sweepers and semi-skilled workers would be benefited with this expansion. Adding further, Sud said that an employer was liable to a six-month imprisonment or a fine of Rs 5,000 or both in case he did not pay his employee as per the Minimum Wages Act.
With a view to checking major variations between the wages fixed by the deputy commissioners, the government has also decided to withdraw powers of DCs to fix the minimum wages of the employees working in boards, corporations or semi-government concerns.
Sud also said the board had unanimously approved the minimum wages of the unskilled securityguards/chowkidars at Rs 3,398 whereas the skilled security guards having been trained at the Jahankhalan training centre, Hoshiarpur would get Rs 4,389. Highly skilled head security guards and head firemen would get Rs 4,573. Security supervisors and security inspectors would get Rs 5,600 and Rs 6,080 respectively, said Sud.