The National Tripartite Committee (NTC) has announced an increase in the National Daily Minimum Wage (NDMW) to GH¢11.82.
The new NDMW is an 11 per cent increase over the from GH¢10.65 figure for 2019.
It will take effect from January 1, 2020.
The NDMW is the least wage any employer in the country can pay a worker in a day.
Announcing the increase in Accra, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, also stated that the NTC had agreed that the new NDMW should be tax-exempt.
He advised all establishments, institutions and organisations to adjust their wages accordingly and warned that any entity which flouted the new rate would be dealt with in accordance with the law.
Base Pay
The Minister also announced that the government and organised labour had agreed that the current base pay on the Single Spine Salary Structure should be increased by 12 per cent across board for the year 2020 at the existing pay point relativity of 1.7 per cent.
He said the base pay, therefore, had been increased from GH¢9.10 per day in 2019 to GH¢10.19 in 2020.
That also, he said, takes effect from January 1, 2020.
Mr Baffour-Awuah said the parties had also agreed to revise the prevailing rates of allowances expressed in the absolute amounts on the categories two and three allowances to new levels to take effect from January 2020.
He advised government ministries, departments and agencjes to take appropriate steps to give effect to the revised categories in accordance with new guidelines to be issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Employers and labour
The Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, expressed gratitude to the government and employers for deepening the social partnership among the three entities.
That partnership, he said, was responsible for the prevailing relative peace on the labour front.
He was of the view that workers in Ghana deserved better financial rewards but was optimistic that as the partnership among labour, government and employers increased, “We will arrive at a take-home pay that will actually take us home.”
The President of the Ghana Employers Association, Mr Daniel Acheampong, said employers recognised how much effort needed to be put in the current macro-economic situation to make business thrive.
He acknowledged the fact that stability was a prerequisite for industrial growth, adding that the GEA had that in mind when it negotiated with the other partners.
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