The Cabinet yesterday denied a media report that the Executive Yuan is planning to raise the minimum wage next year.
According to a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) yesterday, Vice Premier Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) gave instructions during a staff meeting that the minimum salary should be raised by between 4.72 and 6 percent next year — in line with this year’s increase, which raised the minimum salary from NT$21,009 to NT$22,000 per month.
It was reported that the Cabinet would announce next year’s salary hike by the Lunar New Year holiday at the earliest, with the increase falling in line with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) goal of raising the minimum wage to NT$30,000 in five years.
Shih on Tuesday last week said that the goal could be achieved in four to six years if the minimum wage grew by between 6 and 8 percent annually.
However, Shih did not call the staff meeting in question, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, and the Cabinet did not yet have a plan for any legislation on the issue.
The report was quoting false information, Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Tsai has instructed the Cabinet to revive the economy and raise the starting monthly salary to more than NT$30,000, Hsu said, adding that Premier William Lai (賴清德) would convene meetings to deliberate on possible measures to address the issues of wage stagnation and low salaries.
It remains to be seen whether raising the minimum wage will be discussed, Hsu added.
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