In a tripartite agreement between the government, employers and trade unions, the monthly minimum wage of workers working in the field other than tea plantations has been fixed at 19,550 rupees. The wages of the workers were determined in a meeting held at the Ministry of Labor on Thursday under the coordination of the Chairman of the Minimum Determination Committee, Pradeep Koirala. The new salary is effective from July 1.

The new salary is Rs 2,250 more than before. Now the basic salary will be 12 thousand 170 rupees and dearness allowance will be 7 thousand 380 rupees. Similarly, daily wage is Rs 750 and hourly Rs 111. In the case of workers who work only part-time, the minimum hourly wage is fixed at 107 rupees. 

Labor, Employment and Social Security Minister Sharatsingh Bhandari said that the minimum salary has been determined on the basis of consensus by all the three parties maintaining flexibility to smooth industrial relations. There was not always an agreement between the employer and the workers on the matter of setting wages. A situation was being created where the government had to intervene," he said. "This year, after a series of discussions, there was an atmosphere of standing together." 

Jyotsna Shrestha, Chairperson of the Federation of Nepal Industry and Commerce, said that it is the employer's responsibility to implement the minimum wage set on the basis of the tripartite agreement. "There was always a situation where the government itself decided the minimum salary. The employer did not take responsibility for it," Shrestha told Kantipur, "Now we take responsibility for the fixed salary, it is implemented. We go together with trade unions. It helps in strengthening industrial relations.

One of the three major trade unions participating in the wage determination committee from the Joint Trade Union Coordinating Center (JTUCC) has not agreed. Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and Nepal Trade Union Federation (GIFANT) have agreed. Vinod Shrestha, president of Geephant, said that they have come to an agreement to prevent the government from fixing the salary this year. 

'We had an agreement between the trade union to agree on an increase of at least 3,000 rupees in the previously fixed salary. However, the employer came to the situation of increasing 2 thousand 250 rupees. We have signed the agreement after the salary to be implemented," he said. 

Previously, when the government decided the minimum wage unilaterally, 50 percent of the employer was not implemented. It has been found that only 29.9 percent of the minimum wage has been determined during the labor audit of Geephant.

Maoist-affiliated All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF) has said that it does not agree on the minimum wage. Jagat Bahadur Sinkhada, president of ANTUF, who is also the president of JTUCC, claimed that NTSC and Gefont signed an agreement not to set the salary below 20,300. Antuf is not participating in this salary. After we left, the trade union near the government agreed. The agreement of 7 other trade unions is not there," he said. 

As of Wednesday night, employers and trade unions had not agreed on new wages. Employers were at 19,500 positions. Trade unions were stuck at 21,000. But the trade union came to an agreement after the employer was ready to increase Rs 50 more.

Previously, the salary of Nepali workers except for tea plantations has been fixed at 17 thousand 300 rupees with allowances. In this, the basic salary was increased to 10,820 and dearness allowance to 6,480. Hourly wage of labor is Rs.89. In this, the basic wage is 56 rupees and the workers get 33 rupees as dearness allowance. 

The hourly basic wage for a part-time worker is Rs 95. This salary, which was implemented from July 1, 2080, has expired since June 32. According to the Labor Act, 2074, a new minimum wage must be determined every two financial years.

According to Labor Force Survey-2017 in Nepal, 7 million 86 thousand workers are employed in the internal labor market. Out of this, 4.446 million are men and 2.64 million are women. Only 26 lakh 75 thousand people are employed in the formal sector. Majority of 44 lakh 11 thousand people (62.2 percent) are working in informal sector. Out of this, 14 lakh 34 thousand are employed in the agricultural sector and 29 lakh 4 thousand are employed in the non-agricultural sector. According to the statistics of the Ministry, 73 thousand people are employed in domestic labor.