Mauritius - Minimum Wages - 2011

18 October 2011.

Export Enterprises (Remuneration Order) Regulations 1984, GN No. 191, as amended by Export Enterprises (Remuneration Order) (Amendment) Regulations 2008, GN No. 231 of 2008

Employment Relations Act 2008 of 19 September 2008, Act No. 32 of 2008, Government Gazette of Mauritius No. 95 of 27 September 2008

Additional Remuneration Act 2008, dated 7 August 2008, Act No. 22 of 2008

Additional Remuneration Act 2009 of 10 July 2009, Act No. 13 of 2009, Government Gazette of Mauritius No. 63 of 11 July 2009

Factory Employees (Remuneration Order) Regulations 2001, Legal Supplement to the Government Gazett of Mauritius No. 105 of 13 October 2001

Employment Rights Act 2008 of 19 September 2008, Act No. 33 of 2008

Addtional Remuneration (2011) Act 2010.

Factory Employees (Remuneration Order) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

Domestic Workers (remuneration) Regulations 2010.

Worker means a person who has entered into, or works under an agreement or a contract of apprenticeship, other than a contract of apprenticeship regulated under the Industrial and Vocational Training Act, whether by way of casual work, manual labour, clerical work or otherwise and however remunerated; includes a part-time worker; a former worker where appropriate; a shareworker; does not include a job contractor; except in relation to sections 4, 20, 30, 31 and Parts VIII, IX, X and XI, a person whose basic wage or salary is at a rate in excess of 360,000 rupees per annum.

Employer means a person, enterprise or body of persons, who or which employs a worker; and is responsible for the payment of remuneration to the worker; includes a job contractor; a person, other than another shareworker, who shares the profit or gross earnings of a shareworker.

Wages means all the emoluments payable to a worker under a contract of employment.

Basic wage or salary means -
(i) in relation to an employee whose basic wage or salary is prescribed, such basic wage or salary, whether or not the employee’s actual wage or salary exceeds the prescribed wage or salary or the employee is remunerated on a piece rate basis or employed on task work;
(ii) in relation to an employee in respect of whom no wage or salary is prescribed or agreed upon in his contract of service, the total amount, by whatever name called, earned by him as from the appointed date;
(iii) in every other case, the basic wage or salary agreed upon in his contract of service, whether or not the employee’s actual wage or salary exceeds the agreed wage or salary or the employee is remunerated on a piece rate basis or employed on task work; and
(b) includes any previous additional remuneration granted under any enactment; but
(c) does not include any allowance, commission or other benefit not forming part of an employee’s wage or salary but given to him in addition to his wage or salary.

Where the Minister is satisfied that no arrangements exist in an industry for the effective regulation of wages and conditions of employment by collective agreements or otherwise, he may refer that matter to the Board.
Without prejudice to subsection (1), theMinister may, on request made by a joint consultative or negotiating body composed of representatives of a substantial number of workers and of employers in an industry not covered by a collective agreement, refer any matter concerning minimum remuneration and conditions of employment in that industry to the Board.
Upon a reference under this section, the Board shall submit to the Minister a recommendation on the minimum remuneration and specific terms and conditions of employment.

Where the Minister receives a recommendation under section 92, he may -
(a) make regulations for implementing the recommendation;
(b) reject the recommendation and -
(i) make no regulations; or
(ii) make such regulations as he thinks fit; or
(c) refer the recommendation back to the Board with a request to reconsider the recommendation in the light of any observations he may make.
Where the Minister refers a recommendation back to the Board under subsection (1), the Board shall reconsider the recommendation and make a fresh recommendation to the Minister and, on submission of a fresh recommendation by the Board, the Minister may -
(a) make regulations for implementing the recommendation; or
(b) reject the fresh recommendation and -
(i) make no regulations; or
(ii) make such regulations as he thinks fit.
The Minister shall cause regulations made under this section to be published in the Gazette and in at least 3 daily newspapers.
Any regulation made under this section shall take effect from a date which shall be specified in the regulations and different dates may be fixed.

Notwithstanding sections 91 to 93, the Minister may, following the enactment of any law providing for the payment of additional remuneration, make such regulations as are necessary in order to reflect any such additional remuneration in the salary, wage or other remuneration payable under any regulations implementing any Remuneration Regulations governing any category of employees, to whom the additional remuneration is payable.
Regulations made under subsection (1) may be by way of regulations amending regulations made to implement any Remuneration Regulations.

Minimum wage rates may also be set in collective agreements. However, a collective agreement shall not contain a provision reducing the wages provided in remuneration regulations. Collective agreements may be extended to another employer if the employer and workers to whom the collective agreement is to be extended are engaged in the same activity and the extension of the agreement is desirable in the interest of uniformity of terms and conditions of employment and the terms of the collective agreements are not prejudicial to the viability of the enterprise concerned in the industry.
The collective agreement can be extended to a whole industry if the parties to the agreement represent a substantial proportion of the workers or of the employers in the industry, if the employers engaged in the industry are not bound by the agreement and if the extension of the agreement is necessary or desirable in the interests of uniformity of terms and conditions of employment in the industry.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(a) the interests of the persons immediately concerned and the community as a whole.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(b) the need to promote decent work and decent living.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(l) the need to establish and maintain reasonable differentials in rewards between different categories of skills and levels of responsibility;
(m) the need to maintain a fair relation between the incomes of different sectors in the community.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(g) the need to increase the rate of economic growth and to protect employment and to provide greater employment opportunities.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(j) the need to develop schemes for payment by results and, as far as possible, to relate increased remuneration to increased labour productivity.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(g) the need to increase the rate of economic growth and to protect employment and to provide greater employment opportunities.

The Tribunal, the Commission or the Board may, in the exercise of their functions in relation to a matter before them under this Act have regard, inter alia, to -
(i) the capacity to pay of enterprises;

Minimum wages have been established in Remuneration Orders for workers in 29 industries and occupations in the private sector including: factory employees; domestic workers; field-crop and orchard workers; distributive trades; cleaning enterprises; catering and tourism industry; attorneys`and notaries`employees; cinema industry; security work; tailoring trade; tea industry; sugar industry (agricultural and non-agricultural workers); public transport workers; printing industry; office attendants; pre-primary school employees; light metal and wooden furniture workshops; nursing homes; newspaper and periodicals employees; private secondary school employees; salt-manufacturing industry; export enterprises; electrical enigneering and mechanical workshops; and road haulage industry.

Most Remuneration Orders set minimum wage rates that vary according to the worker’s occupation. Minimum wage rates are set in accordance with the worker’s grade, skill-level and seniority.

There are Remuneration Orders for the following occupations: factory employees; domestic workers; field-crop and orchard workers; distributive trades; cleaning enterprises; catering and tourism industry; attorneys`and notaries`employees; cinema industry; security work; tailoring trade; tea industry; sugar industry (agricultural and non-agricultural workers); public transport workers; printing industry; office attendants; pre-primary school employees; light metal and wooden furniture workshops; nursing homes; newspaper and periodicals employees; private secondary school employees; salt-manufacturing industry; export enterprises; electrical enigneering and mechanical workshops; and road haulage industry.

Yes

Export Enterprises (Remuneration Order) Regulations determine the minimum wage rates that apply to workers in export processing zones.

Separate minimum wage rates have been established for apprentices or trainees in the following industries: public transport (buses); printing; catering; block making, construction, stone crushing; electrical, engineering and mechanical workshops; light metal and wooden furniture workshops; newspapers and periodicals; tailoring.

Workers between 15 and 18 years of age receive lower minimum wage rates than adult workers in the following industries: sugar; livestock; field crop and orchards; tea.

Monthly minimum wage for household workers: 4,025 Mauritian Rupees.

The Supervising Officer may, on application made to him, grant a permit, subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, authorising the employment of a person at less than the minimum remuneration prescribed in regulations made under section 93 or under a collective agreement where that person, by reasons of infirmity or physical incapacity, is incapable of earning the minimum remuneration specified in those regulations or collective agreement.

Subject to subsection (6), where an employee is remunerated on a piece rate basis at rates prescribed in the Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers) (Remuneration Order) Regulations 1983 or as agreed upon, such rates shall, as from the appointed date, be increased in the same proportion as the increase of the payment of the additional remuneration on the basic wage prescribed or agreed upon, as the case may be, of the employee.

Subject to subsection (6), where an employee is remunerated on a piece rate basis at rates prescribed in -
(a) the Cinema Workers (Remuneration Order) Regulations 2005;
(b) the Tea Industry Workers (Remuneration Order) Regulations 1984; or
(c) any other enactment,
such rates shall, as from the appointed date, be increased by 3.2 per cent.

The piece rates prescribed in the enactments specified in subsections (4) and (5) shall include any previous additional remuneration granted by law.

Every employer shall pay to a part-time worker not less than the basic wage or salary prescribed in any enactment or specified in a collective agreement except where the enactment overrides the agreement, for his category or grade whichever is the higher, calculated proportionately on the notional hourly rate and increased by not less than 5 per cent.

Where no basic wage or salary is prescribed in an enactment or specified in a collective agreement, every employer shall pay to a part-time worker not less than the basic wage or salary of a comparable full-time worker calculated proportionately on the notional hourly rate and increased by not less than 5 per cent.

2011:
178,30 Mauritian Rupees per day for a 5-day workweek for unskilled factory workers, 1st year, plus an additional remuneration equivalent to 3.2 per cent of the monthly wage perceived (rounded up to the next rupee).

1st January 2011.

These regulations shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 January 2011.

Remuneration Orders fix minimum wage rates by the month, week, day or piece rates.

Every employer shall pay remuneration to a worker at monthly intervals, unless the parties agree to payment at shorter intervals.

Every employer shall pay remuneration to a worker at monthly intervals, unless the parties agree to payment at shorter intervals.

Every employer shall pay remuneration to a worker at monthly intervals, unless the parties agree to payment at shorter intervals.

Every employer shall pay remuneration to a worker at monthly intervals, unless the parties agree to payment at shorter intervals.

The Ministry shall be responsible for maintaining a labour inspection service which shall administer and ensure the enforcement of the Employment Rights Act and any other enactment relating to labour or employment and bring to the notice of the Minister defects or abuses not specifically covered by this Act or any other enactment relating to labour or employment.

An employer who contravenes any provision of regulations made under section 93 shall commit an offence, and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 50,000 rupees.