9,183 earning the minimum wage

The number of full-time workers earning a minimum wage has increased from 2,250 in 2004 to 2,384 in 2012, statistics based on the Labour Force Survey show.

When part-timers and employees on reduced hours are added, the number increases to 9,183, this adds up to 618 more than in 2004.

This category includes a growing number of workers – mostly women – who rely on a part-time job as their main or sole occupation.

These statistics suggest that minimum-wage earners currently represent about 6% of the Maltese workforce.

This means that since the first year of the Gonzi administration in 2004, two terms marked by growing economic turmoil in the world, the total number of workers earning a minimum wage has increased by 7.2% while the number of full-timers on a minimum wage has shot up by 6%.

Statistics show that between 2000 and 2004 the number of full-time employees earning a minimum wage had decreased from 6,799 to just 2,250 in 2004, only to increase to 2,384 in 2011.

The total number of minimum-wage earners had fallen drastically from 12,442 in 2000 to 8,565 in 2004, only to increase to 9,183 in 2011.

The finance ministry could not provide a breakdown of minimum-wage earners according to the sector in which they work because this information is not recorded. According to the ministry the government does not employ anyone on the minimum wage. This means that any increase in minimum wage would not have any impact on government salary scales.

A reply to a parliamentary question in March gave a breakdown of minimum-wage earners by locality.

The parliamentary question showed that unlike welfare recipients, minimum wage earners are evenly spread around the island and are not concentrated in any particular district or region. Birkirkara, Mosta, Qormi and St Paul’s Bay register the highest number of minimum-wage earners.

One reason why the number of minimum-wage earners has not increased substantially in the past decade was the decrease in the proportion of lower paid categories of workers in elementary occupations and plant and machine operators, and an increase in the proportion of salespersons and workers in farmed-out security and cleaning services who also have low wages. 

A recent report issued by the Malta Employers Association also puts the number of those on the minimum wage at 9,000 (6% of the work force) and identifies security and cleaning companies as the main sectors which employ these workers.

“There is a concentration of persons on a basic minimum wage (excluding overtime or extra hours) in the security and cleaning sectors, but there are people on a minimum wage in other areas. Most people on minimum wage would be performing unskilled work,” an MEA spokesperson told MaltaToday.

According to the MEA report, the low number of employees on the minimum wage in Malta suggests that many such jobs are transitory. Security companies, for example, accept that most employees in this sector do not intend to make a career out of their job and tend to move on once they find a better paying alternative.

“Employers who engage people on the minimum wage cannot expect loyalty, but these low paid jobs also enable many persons to make the essential transition from unemployed status to employment, which makes it easier for them to access better paying jobs.”

But a report by Church organisation Caritas released last March further fuelled calls for Malta’s minimum wage to be raised, with researchers finding the current level was not enough to ensure a decent standard of living.

The Caritas report estimated that breadwinners on the minimum wage needed an extra €1,600 per year to live a decent life, and called for it to be increased to €180 a week to make up for the shortfall.

In 2011 the government introduced a training scheme for workers earning the minimum wage.  In return for attending a training course, these workers were offered €25 a week. Surprisingly, only eight workers accepted the offer.

The issue only rose high on the political agenda after PL leader Joseph Muscat pledged that he would not increase the minimum wage over and above the cost of living adjustment. On its part the Nationalist Party has dubbed Labour’s stand as a “freeze” on wages while also ruling out an increase over and above the COLA adjustment. Reacting to this controversy Alternattiva Demokratika have called for an increase in the minimum wage over and above the COLA adjustment.