Government considers labor & employers' interests when applying the minimum wage: Minister of Planning

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Chairperson of the National Wages Council (NWC) Dr. Hala El-Said said that the goal of the decision to implement the minimum wage for the private sector, starting next January, is to preserve economic institutions and entities and employment within those institutions, as they are national security for Egypt.
El-Said pointed out that the total employment in the private sector establishments is estimated at 20 million individuals, as millions will benefit from the decision to implement the minimum wage for the private sector, estimated at EGP 2,400.El-Said explained that requests were received from more than 3,000 individual establishments to be exempted from the decision.
 “There are about 2,900 establishments whose papers were not completed; therefore, the application of the minimum wages’ decision was postponed for 3,000 establishments that requested an exception,” El-Said explained. The requests for postponement include the ready-made garments and textiles sectors, especially those that are exported abroad, in addition to some companies in the tourism sector, some private schools, stock companies, and some retail stores.El-Said said that the approval of the postponement will be sent to each facility officially from the National Council for WagesShe further emphasized the continuous follow-up of the establishments, to verify the extent to which private sector companies adhere to the minimum wage.El-Said indicated that the labor law, which will be issued soon, includes a set of penalties if the minimum wage decision is not implemented, as decided by Parliament.

For her part, Dr. Hanan Nazir, Director of the Labor Market Policies Unit and Advisor to the National Wage Council, said that for the first time in Egypt this decision has been taken and that there should be a minimum wage in the private sector, as a result of the council's insistence on activating a course in formulating labor market policies.Nazir explained that the decision allowed the economically stumbling establishments to apply to the council, except those applying the decision, and the door to submitting these requests was opened until October 31, last October, and the council received thousands of requests for postponement.
The advisor of the National Council for Wages indicated what the data showed that there are a large number of economic establishments in Egypt where workers' wages exceed the minimum wage set by the Council.