Cabinet has endorsed the labour, industrial relations and employment-creation's decision to issue a wage order to introduce the National Minimum Wage (NMW), effective January 2025.
According to the wage order, the National Minimum Wage is set at N$18 per hour, and is subject for review after two years of implementation.
Labour minister Utoni Nujoma appointed a Wages Commission on NMW in February 2021, who conducted a nationwide investigation on all relevant industries.
It reported and recommended to the minister on a proposed NMW, applicable to all employees, except to related categories of employees, who are specifically exempted by the minister in a wage order, as well as on related supplementary minimum conditions of employment.
In a statement dated 2 June 2024, executive director in the labour ministry Lydia Indombo noted that the introduction of the NMW does not replace bargaining power, as it simply aims to set a floor wage, particularly for lowest-paid employees.
"It is prohibited for employers to reduce wages of their employees. Therefore, employers who are currently paying more than the anticipated NMW must not reduce the salaries of their workers to N$18.00 per hour. The NMW is barely minimum, and not a ceiling wage," Indombo stressed.
Currently, minimum wages, namely collective agreements and wage orders, only apply to certain sectors such as security, agriculture, construction and domestic work.
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Other sectors have no minimum wages, and have been subjected to "offer and take" wages, which, in most cases, are very low.
For domestic workers, the NMW will be phased in incrementally over a period of three years, whereby workers will be paid N$12.02 per hour during the first year of the introduction of the NMW; N$15.01 per hour in the second year and subsequently, N$18.00 per hour in the third year.
Domestic workers are currently paid a minimum of N$9.03 per hour as per the wage order for domestic workers.
Employees in the agricultural sector, who are currently paid a minimum of N$6.00 per hour in addition to being paid in-kind as per the collective agreement, will be paid N$10 per hour in the first year, N$14 per hour in the second year, and N$18 per hour in the third year, exclusive of in-kind payments. A notice will be issued in a Government Gazette in July 2024 with full details of the NMW.
"Once implemented, the NMW will help in improving the wages of the lowest-paid workers; reducing income inequality; improving individual and household income; and achieving a decent standard of living for all," Indombo added.
