Senate Bill 8-161, introduced by President Johnson Toribiong, seeks to increase the current minimum wage of $ 2.50 which has remained stagnant since 1998.
Under the proposed bill, effective April 1, 2011, every employer in the Republic shall pay a minimum wage of $ 2.50 per hour to each employee, excluding other benefits provided to the employee by the employer like food and housing allowance.
Then commencing October 1, 2011, and every six months thereafter, the minimum wage every employer is required to pay shall increase by $0.10 per hour until a minimum wage of $3.50 per hour is in effect.
Unlike the proposal previously advanced by Senator Regis Akitaya, the Toribiong bill, if enacted into law, applies to both to both Palauans and foreign workers with some exceptions.
The bill states that the minimum wage requirement shall not apply to the employment of the following employees: members of an employer’s immediate family, persons employed pursuant to work permit upon the effective date of this Act, and persons employed pursuant to work permit as a domestic helper or as a farmer.
Likewise, the minimum wage is not applicable to non-profit organizations, businesses whose annual gross revenue income is not more than $ 100, 000 and employment of students or other employees on a probationary basis for a period not exceeding 90 days.
Under the bill, any employer who does not pay an employee as required by this section shall be liable to the employee for the difference between the salary and wage that was paid and the salary or wage that should have been paid, plus triple damages.
The bill adds that any employer who knowingly and willfully does not pay an employee as required shall be guilty of misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned for a period of not more than three months, or fined not more than $1,000, or both.
In the case of non-resident workers, any employer who knowingly and willfully does not pay an employee employed pursuant to a work permit as required shall be debarred for a period of three years from employing any non-resident workers.
The employee can also file a civil suit against his employer for failure to receive the minimum wage.
Attempts in the past 12 years to increase the minimum wage have not been successful, as minimum wage bills filed have not advanced past committee level in both the Senate and the House of Delegates.
