Myanmar is circumventing the potential increase of the minimum wage through an allowance. National Committee on Setting the Minimum Wage kept the daily minimum wage unchanged at 4,800 Kyats. But the cost of living increases were catered for through an allowance of 1,000 Kyats per day, starting from October 2023.
The new rate is applicable for all employees in all workplaces and factories across the country, starting from October 1 in the calculation of salaries for workers.
“The minimum wage of 600 Kyats per hour and 4,800 Kyats per day for eight hours of work have not been changed. Workers will only earn an additional 1,000 Kyats of daily allowance. If there are thirty days in a month, it means that they get their salary plus 30,000 Kyats of allowance. Some private factories have already increased their allowances months ago and they do not need to increase again now. Only factories that have not yet increased their allowance fee must comply with the scheme,” said Htain Lin, a member of the Thakayta Industrial Zone Management Committee in Thakayta Township of Yangon Region. Many of the factories in Yangon Region’s industrial zones have already practised the minimum wage of K5,800 per day well before the announcement.
