le rapport du nrb dans son intégralité

0

NATIONAL REMUNERATION BOARD

Review of minimum wages in Remuneration Regulations

wherein workers are drawing less than Rs 6,500 per month

December 2015

PROPOSED

RECOMMENDATIONS

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

1.0 Introduction 2

1.1 The Board’s Stand 3

1.2 The Review Exercise 4

1.3 Remarks 5

1.4 Submissions Made by the CTSP 5

1.5 The Board’s Stand In Relation To the Submissions Made before It 6

1.6 Other Observations 7

1.7 Wage Determination 8

1.8 Acknowledgement 8

Annex:

A. Cinema Workers Remuneration Regulations 2005 9

B. Domestic Workers Remuneration Regulations 2010 20

C. Export Enterprises Remuneration Regulations 1984 26

D. Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations 2001 40

E. Light Metal and Wooden Furniture Workshops Remuneration Regulations 2002 55

F. Nursing Homes Remuneration Regulations 1983 64

G. Pre-Primary School Employees Remuneration Regulations 2000 78

H. Salt Manufacturing Industry Remuneration Regulations 1983 88

I. Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers) Remuneration Regulations 1983 94

J. Tea Industry Remuneration Regulations 1984 102

2

NATIONAL REMUNERATION BOARD

PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS ON MINIMUM WAGES IN REMUNERATION

REGULATIONS WHEREIN WORKERS ARE DRAWING LESS THAN RS 6,500 PER

MONTH

1.0 INTRODUCTION

On 24 September 2013, the then Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment

acting under Section 91 of the Employment Relations Act [ERA], referred to the National

Remuneration Board (NRB), the review of wages in respect of workers drawing less than Rs

6,500 per month in the following Remuneration Regulations:

1. Baking Industry Remuneration Regulations 2003

2. Cinema Workers Remuneration Regulations 2005

3. Domestic Workers Remuneration Regulations 2010

4. Export Enterprises Remuneration Regulations 1984

5. Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations 2001

6. Field Crop and Orchard Workers Remuneration Regulations 2008

7. Light Metal and Wooden Furniture Workshops Remuneration Regulations 2002

8. Livestock Workers Remuneration Regulations 2008

9. Nursing Homes Remuneration Regulations 1983

10. Pre-Primary School Employees Remuneration Regulations 2000

11. Private Secondary School Employees Remuneration Regulations 1984

12. Salt Manufacturing Industry Remuneration Regulations 1983

13. Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers) Remuneration Regulations 1983

14. Tea Industry Remuneration Regulations 1984

3

Given that the above referral restricted the review of wages to only those workers who drew

less than Rs 6,500 per month, the then Minister deemed it fit to make a second referral to the

Board on 14 October 2013 to extend the scope of the review of wages to all category of

workers governed by the 14 Remuneration Regulations. The second referral goes towards

avoiding any prejudice that could have been caused to the workers by the Board’s lack of

mandate under the first referral to maintain relativity in the different job categories and the

Board highly appreciates such an initiative.

1.1 THE BOARD’S STAND

Before proceeding with the review proper, the Board wishes to draw attention to the

followings:

(i) The lowest prescribed salaries for workers on full time employment in sectors 1, 6, 8 and

11 above exceed Rs 6,500 per month and as such, they no longer fall within the purview of this

revision exercise. The Board accordingly sets aside the review of wages in sectors 1, 6, 8 and 11.

It however wishes to point out that the prescribed salary of Caretaker, Cleaner, Gardener in the

Private Secondary School Employees Remuneration Regulations is in relation to part time work

and same should be adequately clarified in the Regulations to avoid any prejudice that may be

caused to workers due to its misinterpretation.

(ii) The Board has a mandatory duty under section 91(3) of the Employment Relations Act

2008 to submit a recommendation to the Minister upon a referral made by him under Section

91. Given that the review of wages in the remaining 10 sectors has been sent to the Board in

one and same referral, the Board is bound in law to submit one recommendation in which the

review of wages of the different sectors shall be annexed.

(iii) A full review of the Manufacturing sector (which includes both Factory Employees

Remuneration Regulations and the Export Enterprises Remuneration Regulations) has been

referred to the Board by way of a different referral made under section 91 of the Employment

Relations Act 2008. The said review is presently before the Board awaiting full investigation for

4

recommendation purposes. Pending a full review of the manufacturing sector, the Board finds it

appropriate, for the purpose of this partial review, to make a transitional review of wages for

the two above named sectors as per the present reference.

1.2 THE REVIEW EXERCISE

The Board started the review exercise by inviting interested parties to submit written proposals

through notices which were published in the Government Gazette on 17 October 2013 and in

three dailies, namely: Le Défi Quotidien on 21 October 2013, L'Express on 22 October 2013 and

Le Matinal on 19 October 2013. A deadline was set for the submission of written proposals and

by the due date representations were received from the Conféderation des Travailleurs du

Secteur Privé (CTSP) only.

Public Hearings were held and CTSP deponed viva voce before the Board to elaborate and

support its proposals. The Board had the opportunity, during the proceedings, to put questions

to the union to seek clarification regarding certain specific issues raised in the written

submissions. The Union representative, whilst answering the Board’s questions, provided

certain additional information pertinent to the review and reiterated the union’s concerns

before the Board.

In the course of the review, the Board also undertook a fact gathering exercise. Investigation

was conducted by way of survey questionnaires designed for both employers and employees.

The Technical team also effected site visits on a list of selected enterprises in the sectors

concerned to gather maximum information.

5

1.3 REMARKS

1. Data provided by Statistic Mauritius with regards to the Factory (Manufacturing) sector

has not been used because it tends to carry several components other than the one

targeted by the Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations and same had the risk of

overestimating the figures.

2. The referral made by the Minister is in relation to ‘workers who are drawing less than Rs

6,500 monthly’. For the purpose of this review, the Board considers the figure of Rs

6,500 to be that of basic salary of workers employed on a full time basis.

3. The Board equally wishes to point out that that the technical team had to face much

difficulty with certain employers during the investigation process. The flow of

information was slow and some reluctance was observed from the part of some

employers in the release of workers to attend interviews. The Board also wishes to

disclose the lack of prompt collaboration from the part of certain government

authorities to provide information crucial to this review exercise. The Board therefore

makes a special request to all government institutions to expedite matters in future

reviews to help it make timely recommendations.

1.4 SUBMISSIONS MADE BY THE CTSP

In its written representations, the CTSP had made proposals for both wages and conditions of

employment. However, during proceedings before the Board, the attention of Mr. Chuttoo

(representative of CTSP) was drawn to the fact that the referral was in relation to the review of

wages only and as such, the Board could not entertain submissions regarding conditions of

employment. Mr. Chuttoo then dropped his submission regarding conditions of employment

and proceeded to address the Board on the issue of wages only.

The representative of the CTSP made representations for a lowest basic “survival” wage of Rs

8000 for all categories of workers across the sectors concerned. He referred to the prescribed

wages in the Office Attendants Remuneration Regulations (last reviewed in 2012) to submit

6

that wages of like category of workers in the different sectors should be aligned and relativity

between grades maintained.

Mr. Chuttoo also made representations for the introduction of a salary scale to replace the flat

salary which exists in certain sectors.

In his submissions to the Board, the representative of the CTSP acknowledged that there are

certain sectors which would not be in a position to sustain the proposed increase in wages.

1.5 THE BOARD’S STAND IN RELATION TO THE SUBMISSIONS MADE BEFORE IT

The Board considers the submissions made in relation to the introduction of a basic “survival”

wage of Rs 8,000 in all the sectors concerned to be an issue relevant to national minimum wage

which falls outside the province of the NRB. The Board wishes to highlight that it is mandated

under the law to make recommendations on wages and conditions of employment on the basis

of the specificity of each particular sector.

With regards to the reference made to the Office Attendants (R.O) Regulations, the Board

wishes to point out that the Office Attendant Remuneration Regulations is peculiar in as much

as contrary to all other remuneration orders where a particular sector or economic activity is

covered, the Office Attendants Remuneration Regulations does not cover a particular sector. It

caters for a specific occupational coverage and as such any comparison to same would tend to

mislead the current review.

Regarding the representations made for the introduction of a salary scale to replace the flat

salary which exists in certain sectors, the Board wishes to highlight that it appreciates the

prejudicial effect which a flat salary may represent to workers reckoning long years of service

with the same employer. However, investigation led by the Board has revealed that the sectors

concerned are already facing much difficulty to survive and hence they would simply not be in a

position to sustain the increase in salaries which the introduction of a salary scale would entail.

In the circumstances, the Board makes no recommendations on the issue of the introduction of

a salary scale.

7

1.6 OTHER OBSERVATIONS

The field investigation led by the Board has revealed that in sectors where daily/weekly wages

have been prescribed, the majority of workers derive payment on a monthly basis. Hence, the

Board deems it fit to recommend the inclusion of a monthly wage in all the concerned

Remuneration Regulations which currently provide daily/weekly wages.

The Board also wishes to draw attention to the fact that certain Remuneration Regulations

expressly make reference to “male and female’ for the same job category and same is

accompanied by a difference in their salary. In view of eliminating this discriminating practice,

the Board recommends an equal remuneration for both male and female workers in the same

job category [performing exactly the same duties] and proposes the higher salary as the basic

wage.

The Board, however, wishes to point out that in so far as the Tea Industry Remuneration

Regulations is concerned, the apparent discriminatory salaries for field worker and factory

worker has all its raison d’être given that the duties performed by the male worker differ from

that of the female worker as per the very definition of those workers in the Regulations.

The Board is bound by the terms of the present referral not to recommend amendments to any

other provisions in the regulations except for wages. However, with a view to remove any

pejorative connotation/discrimination, the Board invites the Honourable Minister to consider

changing the appellations (i) field worker, male and female (ii) factory worker, male and female

by removing the words male and female wherever and whenever they appear in the

Regulations.

The Board reiterates that the salaries proposed represent the minimum remuneration to

workers and same does not prevent an employer who has the capacity to pay, to give better

wages and to provide for better terms and conditions of employment.

All the figures proposed as basic salary are not inclusive of the quantum of salary compensation

payable in 2016.

8

1.7 WAGE DETERMINATION

Bearing in mind the principles laid down in Section 97 of the Employment Relations Act 2008, in

particular (i) the need to promote decent work and decent living (ii) the need to increase the

rate of economic growth and to protect employment and to provide greater employment

opportunities (iii) the need to preserve and promote the competitive position of local products

in overseas market (iv) the capacity to pay of enterprises (v) the need to establish and maintain

reasonable differentials in rewards between different categories of skills and levels of

responsibility and after careful analysis of the trends in the different sectors, the nature of the

work performed and the prevailing wages in the respective industries, the Board has come up

with recommendations regarding wages which it considers fair, just and reasonable and which

is hereafter transposed in the respective annexes.

1.8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Board extends its thanks to:

(i) all parties and other institutions or persons who, through their representations,

depositions and cooperation, have greatly contributed to help the Board reach

the present recommendations;

(ii) the members of the staff for their invaluable collaboration characterized by their

relentless effort, praiseworthy commitment and professional approach; and

(iii) the members of the supporting staff for their contribution in the recording of

minutes of proceedings and making same available for reference.

DECEMBER 2015

9

Annex A

Wage Review of

Cinema Workers

(Remuneration Order)

Regulations 2005

10

Wage Review of Cinema Workers Overview of the sector

The cinema industry in any country aims at providing a source of entertainment to the public. It

is an industry which essentially depends on the behaviour of the public for its success. With

advancements in technology, cinemas around the world are facing lots of problems. With the

easy access to internet, nowadays, people prefer downloading movies as same is cheaper and

thus demand for cinema services have exponentially fallen. It is reported that the number of

people going to movies has decreased by an average of 20% to 25% since 2014. Establishments

engaged in the activity incur high fixed costs including costs of electricity and wage as well as

costs of movies and profitability largely depends on the number of viewers at the shows. The

degree of success of a movie determines the income generated by the establishment

(http://news.islandcrisis.net, access date September 2015).

However, in order to cope with the falling demand, many cinema service providers have

diversified their products in order to increase their market share and if not to safeguard their

present market. Research indicates that a new concept will be launched under the ‘premium

cinema’ theme in certain cinema halls of the country. The premium cinema project will include

a VIP hall with only 12 seats which will not be placed in the current orderly fashion. Rather, the

seating will be modified into a cozier and warmer one; clients will have at their disposal

hostesses, tables, and blankets.

Though this sector represents a very insignificant share of the Mauritian GDP, it however

contributes to a major extent to the leisure activities of the people of the country and hence

the viability of this sector should be preserved in view of ensuring a continued existence

thereof.

11

Economic Analysis

Compensation of employees

The National Accounts Unit of Statistics Mauritius defines the “Compensation of employees” as

comprising of all payments of wages and salaries by producers to their employees. Payments in

kind and contributions to social security and to private pension fund, casualty insurance and

similar schemes are also included.

Compensation of employees increased from Rs 127 Mn to Rs 195 Mn for the period of 2009 to

2014. Compensation of employees as a percentage of value added rose from 54.9% in 2009 to

60.7% in 2014.

Share of GDP

Gross Domestic Product is the sum of value added of all domestically produced goods and

services. It represents the aggregate money value of all goods and services produced within a

country out of economic activity during a specified period, usually a year, before provision for

the consumption of fixed capital. GDP at basic prices is obtained as the difference between

output and intermediate consumption whereby output is valued at basic prices and

intermediate consumption at purchaser’s price. The figures below illustrate the share of GDP of

the cinema sector in Mauritius over the period 2012 to 2014.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

Years

Com

pens

atio

n of

em

ploy

ees

as a

% o

f Val

ue A

dded

2009 2009.5 2010 2010.5 2011 2011.5 2012 2012.5 2013 2013.5 2014

0

50

100

150

200

250

Years

Co

mp

en

sa

tio

n o

f e

mp

loye

es

(R

S M

n)

12

Source: Statistics Mauritius

Accordingly, it is found that the share in GDP of the sector is rather insignificant and constantly

remained at 0.1% over the period 2007 to 2014.

The cinema sector has experienced a continuous rise of 38.4% from Rs 232 Mn in 2009 to Rs

321 Mn in 2014 in its value added, which is the net output of a sector after adding up all output

and subtracting intermediate input resources.

Real Growth Rate


2012 2012.5 2013 2013.5 2014

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Years

Sh

are

in

GD

P (

%)

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Years

Va

lue

Ad

de

d o

f C

ine

ma

wo

rke

rs S

ecto

r (R

s M

n)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Years

Rea

l Gro

wth

Rat

e (%

)

13

The figure shows the real growth rate of the cinema sector, whereby real growth rate refers to

nominal growth rate after adjustment is made to changes in the price level. In 2009 real growth

rate stood at 9.0%. However, GDP in this sector fell slightly in 2010 to 8.2% and stood still to

8.4% in 2011 and 2012 and further deteriorating to 7.0% in 2013 and to 6.7% in 2014. Thus, real

growth rate kept on declining over the period.

14

Factual Analysis

A sample of 8 establishments was initially selected to assess the cinema sector in Mauritius as

far as the minimum wage determination is concerned. However, the sample has been reduced

to only 4 establishments. The reasons provided by operators/establishments are:

Establishment being a family concern

Cinema under renovation

Establishment has ceased operation

The Sample

Employers

All employers in the sector provide cinema services with more or less similar standards and

opening hours vary between 9.30 hrs and 23.30 hrs with an average of 7 employees each.

Employees

On the other hand, a sample of 15 employees has been selected for the purpose of this study

exercise in order to fairly assess the sector. The categories of employees that the technical

team has come across are tabulated below:

Category of workers Number

Projectionist 2

Box Office Attendant 1

Ticket Controller 2

Café Keeper 3

Cleaner 3

Others 4

Total 15

15

The technical team has noticed the fact that none of the employees in this sector is working on

a contractual basis. All employees are working on a full time basis with the exception of only

one employee who is employed on a part time basis. It is to be pointed out that upon further

investigation with the employee who averred to be working on a part time basis, it was found

that the said employee was in fact working on a full time basis since he covered 8 hours a day/

shift but the employer affirmed that the latter was working on a part time basis.

However, the technical team did not come across the following categories of workers:

Driver

Store assistant

Helper

Assistant projectionist

Usher

Café assistant

Demographics

Age Group

The mean age group found in the cinema sector is distributed equitably in the range of 18 to 30

years and 41 to 50 years and is illustrated as follows:

16

The figure indicates that the sector accommodates for quite a young working population.

Length of Service

The modal length of service in the cinema sector is found to be 1 to 5 years. Same is further

explained by an average young working population

It is to be noted that the number of years of service of employees in the present employment

align with the years of service in the actual grade in the cinema industry, implying that

employees did not have any change in grade since their date of appointment.

Number of employees deriving a basic wage of less than Rs 6,500

According to the employers interviewed, 19.2% of employees derive a monthly basic salary of

less than Rs 6,500 as at June 2015.

Based on the sample conducted, 5 employees derive a basic salary of less than Rs 6,500, which

represent 19.2% of their total employment which in effect corroborate the figure estimated by

the employers.

Level of agreement with the minimum wage of Rs 6,500 per month

To a question put to employers as to whether they are agreeable that a minimum wage of Rs

6,500 per month be fixed to the lowest paid category, 75% of the sample is agreeable with

same while 25% is not agreeable [representing one employer]. The only justification given by

the employer is that ‘cinema is a seasonal business hence it may not sustain the increase in

monthly basic wage’. While other employers do acknowledge that a minimum wage would help

meet basic living expenses related to the purchase of vital products which are getting more and

more costly day by day coupled with the overall increase in the cost of living.

17

Analysis of Salary

In order to analyse the actual basic salary of employees in the Cinema sector, basic salaries of

the different categories of workers have been computed and averaged accordingly with respect

to years of service as in the table below.

Category of

Workers

Average Actual

Monthly Basic Salary

(Rs)

Over/ Under

Valuation with

respect to R.O. (Rs)

Average Monthly

Earnings

(Rs)

Projectionist 6,666 -431 25,791

Box Office Attendant 11,360 5,131 11,360

Ticket Controller 6,214 -15 21,484

Café Keeper 7,485 1,256 17,812

Cleaner 6,467 577 6,467

*Others 8,500 - 8,500

Average Total 7,782 1,304 15,236

*(comprise of categories of workers such as attendant, cashier, receptionist and helper

(not in existing Remuneration Regulation)

On average, the monthly basic salary of employees in the cinema industry amounts to Rs 7,782.

When compared to the basic wages prescribed in the present Remuneration Regulations, it is

found that employees in this sector are deriving more on average by Rs 1,304. However, certain

categories of employees such as projectionist tend to derive a monthly basic salary which falls

below that prescribed by an average Rs 431. Further, ticket controllers are found to face an

undervaluation in their present basic salary by Rs 15 on average.

Moreover, employees in this sector tend to earn much more than what they are deriving as

monthly basic salary. Average earnings in this sector amount to Rs 15,236, with projectionists

being the highest remunerated category of workers and cleaners the least remunerated.

18

Earnings

Multiple factors contribute to the earnings of employees in this particular sector. The major

component consists of the amount earned from additional shows above 28 shows per month.

The rate stated by projectionists interviewed is Rs 331.07 for each additional show above 28

shows same is quite insignificantly below the prescribed rate of Rs 337.13. The rates revealed

by ticket controller and café keeper surveyed align with the rates prescribed in the present

Remuneration Regulation.

Moreover, on average the number of additional shows above 28 shows is 62 shows a month

and average additional earnings received by employees for a month amounts to Rs 16,628.

19

PROPOSED WAGES

Cinema Workers Remuneration Regulations

PART I

Category of employees Monthly basic

wage (Rs)

Driver 9,367 Store assistant 8,665 Caretaker/ Cleaner 8,665 Cleaner 7,623 Helper 7,663

PART II

Category of employees For up to 28

shows per month (Rs)

Rate per additional

show above 28 shows, per

month and for casual workers

(Rs Cs)

Projectionist 9,164 415.75 Assistant projectionist 8,065 336.09 Box office attendant 7,962 328.15 Ticket controller 7,962 328.15 Usher 7,962 328.15 Café Keeper 7,962 328.15 Café Assistant 6,500 230.01

20

Annex B

Wage Review

of

Domestic Workers


Regulations 2010

21

Wage Review of Domestic Workers Overview of the sector

Domestic work is one of the oldest occupations in the world. It goes back in history to the

‘master-servant’ relationship assimilated to the concept of slavery, colonialism and other forms

of servitude. In 2011, the International Labour Organisation Convention No. 189, defined the

term domestic work as “work performed in or for a household or households”, while a

domestic worker is “any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship”

(Article 1). The Convention applies to all domestic workers, including migrant domestic workers.

Domestic work remained undervalued, informal and poorly documented as it was traditionally

compared to unpaid labour carried out mainly by women within a household. The demand for

domestic workers kept rising in recent years due to changes in societies like more women

entering the labour market, the shift to an ageing society and the lack of facilities to balance

work life with family life.

Mauritius has been taking measures to regulate this sector since 1951 when it set up a

Minimum Wage Advisory Board (GN No 174 of 1951). However the recommendations made by

the Board were not enforced in 1953 as the government felt it was an intrusion into the privacy

of households. It was only in 1981 that the first Remuneration Order for this sector (GN No 279

of 1951) came into force. These regulations were last reviewed in December 2010.

By year 2012, according to Statistics Mauritius data, the number of workers covered by the

Remuneration Order for this sector was 23,100. A large number of domestic workers tend to

provide their services on a part-time basis in one or more than one household within the same

working week. The majority of workers in this sector do not have a strong academic

background but they do possess certain skills required to do household tasks.

22

Economic Analysis






Compensation of employees increased from Rs 892 Mn to Rs 1,497 Mn for the period of 2007 to

2014. From the period of 2007 to 2011, compensation of employees as a percentage of value

added was unstable as shown in the graph above whereby it stood at 56.3% in 2009 and rose at

56.7% in 2010 and fell to 55.3% in 2013 and finally reached 56 % in 2014.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Years

Co

mp

en

sa

tio

n o

f e

mp

loye

es

(R

s M

n)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

54.5

55

55.5

56

56.5

57

Years

Co

mp

en

sa

tio

n o

f e

mp

loye

es

as

a %

of V

alu

e A

dd

ed

23

Share of GDP

Gross Domestic Product is the sum of value added of all domestically produced goods and

services. It represents the aggregate money value of all goods and services produced within a

country out of economic activity during a specified period, usually a year, before provision for

the consumption of fixed capital. GDP at basic prices is obtained as the difference between

output and intermediate consumption whereby output is valued at basic prices and

intermediate consumption at purchaser’s price. The figures below indicate the share of GDP of

domestic workers in Mauritius over the period 2009 to 2014.


The share of GDP pertaining from domestic workers has been quite insignificant. Same stood at

0.6% in 2009 and rose to 0.7% in 2010 and remain stagnant until 2013, whereby same rose to

0.8% and remained constant in 2014.

Value added of domestic workers kept increasing continuously over the period 2009 (Rs 1,586

Mn) to 2014 (Rs 2,673 Mn), though in certain years the increase may have been at a less rapid

pace than the previous years. Overall, the value added of this sector has risen drastically by

68.5% over the period 2009 to 2014. Such increase may be the result of increasing demand for

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Years

Va

lue

Ad

de

d o

f D

om

es

tic W

ork

ers

Se

cto

r (R

s M

n)

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Years

Sh

are

in

GD

P (

%)

24

domestic workers by households due to the fact that many people have embarked in work

schedule that draw them highly busy.

Real Growth Rate


The figure shows how the real growth rate for this sector varies from 2009 to 2013 in the

domestic workers industry. In 2009, the real growth rate was at -1.5%, indicating that the sector

was in a doom. However, in 2010, same recovered and reached 6.0%. Further, in 2011, the real

growth rate grew to 7.1% and fell to 7.0% in 2012. The sector still followed a down trend in

2013 and 2014 where real growth rate reached 6.5%.

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Years

Real

Gro

wth

Rate

(%)

25

PROPOSED WAGES

Domestic Workers Remuneration Regulations

Category of employees

Monthly basic wage

(Rs)

Hourly basic rate (Rs cs)

Cook 6,708 32.25 Driver 8,759 42.11 Gardener 7,517 36.14 Garde-malade 7,641 24.49 Household worker 6,500 31.25

Watchperson 8,065 25.85 Household Worker/Cook 7,095 34.11 Caretaker 7,517 36.14

26

Annex C

Wage Review in

Export Enterprises


Regulations 1984

27

Wage review in Export Enterprises

Overview of the sector

Export oriented enterprises’ (EOE) workers around the world, usually complain of being

isolated, refused of their basic rights. These enterprises were previously known as export

processing zones (EPZ). In developing countries, an EOE is set up mainly to attract international

investment. An EOE allows tariff free entry of raw materials and intermediate goods, which are

assembled into final products within the EOE and then exported to developed country markets.

In Mauritius, the EPZ sector was launched in 1970 with only 5 enterprises. These enterprises are

those which previously held an EPZ certificate and a registration certificate issued by the Board

of Investment and which are engaged in manufacturing goods for export. According to data

provided by Statistics Mauritius, as at end of the fourth quarter of 2012 there were 337 EOEs

with the coming into operation of a new garment-producing enterprise and the closure of 3

enterprises. Moreover, official data also show that over the year 2012, there was a net

decrease of 19 EOEs since 20 enterprises closed down and 1 came into operation.

In the past, Mauritius’ EPZ was productive because the sector managed to achieve primary

goals of employment creation, export diversification and attracting FDI, despite providing low

skills assembly line jobs. Nowadays EOEs are facing lot of challenges like the difficult export

environment resulting from the global financial crisis, the fierce competition which arises with

products from China and the abolition of the preferential treatment on different trades to

Mauritius. In December 2012, there were a total of 54,187 workers in this sector among whom

56% were females and 44% were males (Statistics Mauritius).

The Export Enterprises R.O Regulations was last reviewed in 1984. Field investigation has shown

that EOE workers generally tend to be reluctant to come forward with problems they are

facing. Employees in certain EOEs do not even have a designated representative to fight for the

workers’ cause. Some workers who came forward stated that they perform monotonous tasks

for ten tedious hours continuously as per the employer's specification without a decent reward.

28

In the past, the working conditions were much harsher where typical working hours were as

long as 12 to 18 hours per day with forced unpaid overtime that pushed workers’ actual

earnings well below the poverty level. All these appear to have tarnished the reputation of this

sector.

The success of EOE has been such that they have absorbed the labour surplus; indeed there is

now a labour shortage in the island and several enterprises have resorted to migrant labour to

expand production and at the same time to benefit from cheap labour costs. One of the

government’s economic successes in the late 1980s was job creation, largely through the

growth of EOE enterprises. Between 1983 and 1989, total employment rose by 55 percent.

Employment rose to 16,000 per year between 1985 and 1988, but only by 3,500 annually in the

1988 to 1992 period. The rapid creation of manufacturing jobs has created labour shortages in

the agricultural and manufacturing sectors; as a result, foreign workers have been brought in by

some employers. As it enters the stage of becoming a newly industrialised country, Mauritius

needs to use its labour force more effectively, shifting workers from less productive to more

productive sectors. This transition requires the government to promote labour mobility, as well

as greater technological skills and training.

Source:

A study of labour shortage in manufacturing sector of Mauritius - www.hrdc.mu

29

Economic Analysis

Compensation of Employees

Statistics Mauritius defines the “Compensation of employees” as comprising of all payments of

wages and salaries by producers to their employees. Payments in kind and contributions to

social security and to private pension fund, casualty insurance and similar schemes are also

included.

Source: National Accounts Unit, Statistics Mauritius

Compensation of employees increased from Rs 8,677 Mn to Rs 11,868 Mn for the period of

2007 to 2014. Though compensation as a percentage of value added grew from 2007 to 2011

from 49.4% to 59.5% same fell over the period 2012 and 2013 to 56.4%. In 2014, a slight

increase in same occurred reaching 58.2%.

30

Share of GDP

The chart below indicates the share of GDP of the EOE sector in Mauritius over the period 2007

to 2014.


Value Added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting

intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated

assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources.

From the chart, the share of GDP decreases from 8.1 % to 6.0 % in the period of 2007 to 2014.

However, the breakdown of value added of the EOE sector showed a decrease from Rs 17,573

Mn in 2008 to Rs 17,155 Mn in 2010. As from 2011, the value added kept on increasing

reaching Rs 20,395 Mn in 2014. The decrease in value added during the period 2008 to 2010

was the result of the difficult economic conditions which prevailed at that time due to the

global financial crisis. Many countries around the world were affected by this crisis which

resulted in a fall in orders of exports.

31

Real growth rate


The figure shows the real growth rate of the EOE industry where the real growth rate compares

GDP growth on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent. In 2008, the

real growth rate for this sector was 1.7 % and it then decreased to -0.4 % in the following year.

From 2009 to 2010, the sector experienced an upswing whereby the rate reached 6.4%.

However after 2012, the real growth rate decreased reaching -3.0% in 2013. This may be

explained by the difficult export environment which results due to the fierce competition that

arises with Chinese products. But the real growth rate restored after 2013 reaching 0.8% in

2014.

32

Factual Analysis

To conduct the wage review in the Export Enterprise R.O Regulations, surveys have been

scheduled in 13 establishments and 537 employees were interviewed by job category.

Operators in this sector generally have recourse to foreigners to work on the production floor

but for the purpose of this survey, emphasis was laid on the interview of employees of

Mauritian origin. 537 employees from these 13 establishments were interviewed. The selection

of the interviewees was made to cater for employees in different job categories, reckoning

varying years of service and gender differences. An average of 17.6% of employees was

interviewed out of total employment in the establishment subject to their availability.

Employers

The sample of operators constitutes of 3 establishments which have started operations in the

1970s, 6 establishments set up in the 1980s and 2 establishments undertaking production since

the 1990s and the remaining 2 in 2000 and thereafter.

The normal operating hours vary between 7hrs and 18hrs30 with one exceptional operator

running 24 hrs. The hours of operation for the remaining 11 establishments vary between 8

hours 45 minutes (E8) and 10 hours 30 minutes (E4) with the earliest time of daily operation

being 7.15 a.m. and closure of operations being 6.30 p.m. at latest.

Employees

The technical team has been able to gather information from employees working in 34 different

job categories.

33

Employment

Permanent employment

Employees have been questioned on their employment status. The proportion of employees in

permanent full time employment out of the total employment is 98.7%. Part time employment

on a permanent basis is held by 2 workers who work as cleaner and helper.

Contractual employment

The team hardly came across employees on short term contracts in this sector. The percentage

of contractual employment out of total employment is 0.9%.Workers who work on contractual

basis are basically newly employed with 3 months of service or less. These workers work as

cleaner, storekeeper, and clerk.

Gender distribution

190 (35.4%) of the 537 employees are male and 347 (64.6%) are female. In our sample, it has

been gathered that there are certain job categories which are basically male dominated. The

following is a list of some job categories which are male dominated: driver, storekeeper,

watchperson, mechanic, electrician and foreman. Though nowadays women are empowered to

promote gender equality yet there are still some jobs which are preferably offered to women

than to men, for example, factory worker. From information gathered from field investigation,

it can be concluded that the Export Enterprises sector is female dominated.

Employment Full time Part time Total

Permanent 530 (98.7%) 2 (0.4%) 532 (99.1%)

Contractual 5 (0.9%) - 5 (0.9%)

Total 535 (99.6%) 2 (0.4%) 537 (100.0%)

34

Age distribution of Employees

less

than

18y

rs

18 to

30

yrs

31 to

40

yrs

41 to

50

yrs

51 to

65

yrs

abov

e 65

yrs

020406080

100120140160180200

Age Distribution Of EmployeesNumber

Of Employees

From the sample of employees, no one belongs to the age group of less than 18 years of age.

The majority, to be more specific, 33.1% (178) is from the age group of 41 years to 50 years and

31.3% (168) are from the age group of 51 years to 65 years of age. Only a minimal, 0.4% (2)

working in this sector is above the age of 65 years, while one employee is from E6 and the other

is from E13. Physical strength and good health are prerequisites in this sector. The remaining

20.9% (112) of the interviewees belong to the age group of 31 years to 40 years and only 14.3%

(77) are between the ages of 18 years to 30 years.

Young people are less willing to adopt a job in this sector. Most probably, they prefer white

collar jobs due to their relatively higher level of education. It is worth noting that an important

number of people still consider to work after the age of 60 years probably because of family

responsibilities and the increase in cost of living.

35

Number of employees in present/actual position

Number of Years in service

Number of employees reckoning years of service with the present

employer

Number of employees reckoning years of service in the actual

position

Less than 1 year 28 35

1 to 4 years 84 115

5 to 8 years 85 106

9 to 12 years 96 103

13 to 16 years 59 59

17 to 20 years 52 40

21 to 24 years 42 24

25 to 28 years 54 34

29 to 32 years 28 15

33 to 36 years 6 4

37 to 40 years 0 0

41 to 45 years 3 2

Total 537 537

It can be seen from the above table that 17.9% of the interviewees have between 9 to 12 years

of service in the same establishment. There are 3 among the sampled employees who have

worked for more than 40 years in the same establishment. There are many employees whose

actual number of years of service with the employer differs from their number of years of

service in their actual position. The information is depicted in the above table shows that they

have been promoted or have had a change in job within the establishment after certain number

of years of service to a higher responsibility post. Most of the employees interviewed have

either been promoted to a higher post or have shifted to a different post.

Promotion as well as salary can be a very powerful device to motivate employees in an

establishment. Scope for promotion is difficult in this sector as each job category requires

different skills and aptitudes. Many employees in this sector state that they are not well

remunerated for the number of hours that they work. Employees have long working hours and

36

the nature of work is tedious. But many interviewees confirm that they are compelled to do the

overtime as this is the only way to increase their earnings in order to make both ends meet.

Number of employees deriving a basic wage less than Rs 6,500 per month

From information gathered in sampled establishments, 75.7% of the mass of employees are

remunerated with a basic wage of less than Rs 6,500 per month.

A total of 16,566 employees are paid a monthly basic wage not exceeding Rs 6,500 in the above

13 establishments covered by the survey. It worth mentioning that, one employer pays all

production floor employees a monthly basic wage of less than Rs 6,500.

Level of agreement with minimum wage of Rs 6,500 per month to be fixed

All employers sampled unanimously claim not to be agreeable to the setting of a wage floor of

Rs 6,500. The reasons stated for adopting such a stand are as follows:

Labour costs are already very high

The establishment may lose competitiveness in the sector, especially with respect to

importers of similar products. The establishment may lose competitiveness in the world

market if the cost of production is higher than that of other countries.

The increase in wage may threaten employment in the sector. Moreover the situation will

not encourage employers to recruit and train the work force as they will tend to recruit only

experienced and trained labour force.

The fixation of minimum wage entails additional costs to the employer including higher

overtime payment and end of year bonus. Export enterprises rely on foreign orders and an

important order entails overtime work among floor workers.

The sector is labour intensive; hence any increase in labour cost has a direct and significant

repercussion on total costs and profitability of the company.

37

Analysis of wages

To analyse the level of prevailing basic wage among sampled employees in the selected

establishments covered by Export Enterprises Remuneration Regulations, current basic wages

of employees have been compiled and averaged as in the table below.

Components of earnings

Monthly earnings comprise of basic wages, overtime payments and other bonuses and

allowances including the attendance bonus. Field investigation confirms that employees rely on

overtime duties performed to benefit from extra payment. Some even confided that they rely

on meal allowances to boost up their earnings that cover their household expenses.

Monthly

Accounts Clerk 12320.70 13638.20 90.3

Storekeeper 9961.67 11856.06 84.0

Clerk 8487.73 10578.53 80.2

Foreman 9443.81 13939.31 67.7

Timekeeper 9700.00 10000.00 97.0

Telephonist 8050.00 9062.50 88.8

Receptionist 9704.13 12015.38 80.8

Mechanic 9492.27 14122.82 67.2

Electrician 11028.57 17385.71 63.4

Driver Grade 1 8937.50 18546.25 48.2

Driver Grade 2 9833.33 13083.33 75.2

Driver Grade 3 8414.29 11942.86 70.5

Watchman 7728.02 12128.09 63.7

Factory Worker 5659.25 8397.66 67.4

Unskilled Worker 5451.64 7662.02 71.2

Others 11829.10 16156.40 73.2

Average 9127.625417 12532.195 74.3042274428

Category of

workersAverage

basic wage

Average

monthly

earnings

basic wage/

monthly

earnings*100

38

PROPOSED WAGES

Export Enterprises Remuneration Regulations

PART I

Category of worker Years of service Monthly

wage (Rs)

Chief Clerk 1st year 9,119

2nd year 9,324

3rd year 9,515

4th year 9,733

5th year & thereafter 9,905

Accounts Clerk, Cashier, Storekeeper

1st year 8,670

2nd year 8,848

3rd year 9,042

4th year 9,186

5th year 9,336

6th year 9,504


Clerk, Assistant Storekeeper

1st year 7,499

2nd year 7,787

3rd year 8,049

4th year 8,485

5th year 8,748

6th year 8,919

7th year 9,076

8th year 9,242


Foreman / Forewoman, Typist, Timekeeper

1st year 7,570

2nd year 7,894

3rd year 8,237

4th year 8,451


39

Telephonist, Receptionist

1st year 7,570

2nd year 7,894

3rd year & thereafter 8,237

Mechanic, Electrician

1st year 7,499

2nd year 7,787

3rd year 8,049

4th year 8,356

5th year 8,485

6th year 8,650

7th year 8,748

8th year 8,840


Driver Grade 1

8,852

Driver Grade 2

8,675 Driver Grade 3

8,521

PART II

Category of worker Years of service Weekly Wages (Rs Cs)

Monthly Wages

(Rs) Watchperson

1,603.30 6,948

Factory Worker 1st year 1,402.73 6,078

Thereafter 1,427.19 6,184

Unskilled Worker 1st year 1,315.41 5,700

Thereafter 1,377.40 5,969

The Second Schedule to the principal regulations is amended in paragraph 3(2)(b)(ii), by deleting the figure “15.48” and replacing it by the figure “18.76”

40

Annex D

Wage Review of

Factory Employees


Regulations 2001

41

Wage Review of Factory Employees

Overview of the Sector

The present Factory Employee (Remuneration Order) Regulations 2001 describes a “factory

operator” as being an employee, other than a factory attendant, who performs manual tasks

involving a particular skill and include a person who is required to attend or operate a machine.

A “factory attendant” is described as being a person who performs manual tasks involving

physical effort but no particular skill, in a factory. Factory attendants can, for example, as

stipulated in the Remuneration Order, be a cleaner and employed as a factory gardener and

they are also expected to perform manual tasks involving physical efforts but no particular

skills.

This sector has created employment since the 1970s. Mauritius, having a pool of unskilled but

yet educated labour, provided an adaptable workforce for the manufacturing sector. However,

this workforce has gradually become more expensive and could not produce as much as

expected by industrialists to meet the challenges of the world market. In the 1990s, producers

began to turn to foreign workers from China, India and other Far East Asian countries. These

workers were considered more productive as they worked longer hours and were paid the

same as local workers. In 2004, it was estimated that around 15,000 foreign workers were

working in the textile and clothing segment.

The manufacturing sector in Mauritius has successfully diversified into new products such as

jewelry, watch parts and complex medical devices, with shipments of manufactured goods –

excluding the traditional agro-products, textiles and garments – having gone up by a healthy

36% to Rs 8.3 billion over just four years from 2009 to 2013.

According to an in-depth study by The Africa Report, Mauritian entrepreneurs are no longer

content with merely canning tuna and spinning yarn, but there is a renewed thrust on producing

high-end goods ranging from watch parts to complex medical devices.

42

Researchers believes a strong performance by the financial sector coupled with the emergence

of Seafood exports as an important pillar of the economy will drive growth in the

manufacturing sector and continue to support economic growth in the years to come.

After three straight years of declining growth rates, in 2012, the manufacturing sector’s growth

rate improved by 1.5%. The emergence of fish processing as a new high growth business,

propelled food manufacturing which almost singlehandedly boosted manufacturing growth in

real terms.

http://africamoney.info/mauritius-manufacturers-increase-scope-of-ambitions-broaden-

manufacturing-base/ (Accessed: August 2015)

http://www.axys-group.com/media/12201/mauritius_2013.04.18.pdf (Accessed: August 2015)

http://africamoney.info/mauritius-manufacturers-increase-scope-of-ambitions-broaden-manufacturing-base/

http://africamoney.info/mauritius-manufacturers-increase-scope-of-ambitions-broaden-manufacturing-base/

http://www.axys-group.com/media/12201/mauritius_2013.04.18.pdf

43

Economic Analysis

Due to the complexity of the sector, Statistics Mauritius has not been able to provide exclusive

data on the economic aspects of this sector which we understand have not yet been compiled

as at date.

However, the Board has been able to gather first hand information from the survey conducted

on this sector which has a very significant contribution in the Mauritian economy be it in terms

of revenue and employment of its people.

44

Factual Analysis

To conduct the wage review in the Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations, surveys have

been scheduled in 26 establishments and 844 employees were interviewed by job category.

Sample

Employer

The sample covered operators engaging in the production/manufacture of poultry, margarine,

alcoholic/non alcoholic drinks, building materials, cosmetics, detergents, fertilizers, anti-theft

and other electronic devices, jewelry, soap, metal items, dairy products just to name a few.

Employee

The technical team has been able to gather information from employees working in different

job categories; while 11 job categories are covered by the present Remuneration Regulations,

the remaining job categories are not.

Category of workers Number

Chief Clerk 3

Accounts Clerk 23

Storekeeper 29

Clerk 49

Assistant Storekeeper 18

Telephonist, Receptionist 18

Foreman, Forewoman 59

Factory Operator 234

Factory Attendant 176

Unskilled Worker 161

Watchman 7

Others 67

Total 844

45

Employment

Permanent employment

Employees have been questioned on their employment status. The proportion of employees in

permanent full time employment out of total employment is 97.7%. There are no part time

employees among those under a permanent employment.

Contractual employment

The team hardly came across employees employed on short term contracts in this sector. The

percentage of contractual employment out of total employment is 2.3%. These workers work as

factory attendants, factory operators, and unskilled workers.

Among the 844 employees interviewed in sampled establishments covered by the Factory

Employees Remuneration Regulations, 21 are employed on a contractual basis.

From the sample, employees employed on a contractual basis are: 5 Unskilled Workers, 8

Factory Attendants, 6 Factory Operators, 1 Clerk and 1 Planning Coordinator. The job category

of these employees is not covered by the Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations.

Average duration of contract of employment

From the 21 employees employed on a contractual basis, 11 are at their first, 9 employees are

at their second and 1 employee is at his third contract of employment.

From the 21 employees, one third state that the average duration of contract of employment is

3 years.

Employment Full time Part time Total

Permanent 825 (97.7%) _ 825 (97.7%)

Contractual 19 (2.3%) _ 19 (2.3%)

Total 844 (100.0%) _ 844 (100.0%)

46

Gender distribution

589 (69.8%) of the 844 employees are male and 255 (30.2%) are female. In the sample, it has

been observed that there are certain job categories which are basically male dominated. The

following is a list of some job categories which are male dominated: factory operator, foreman,

watchperson, factory attendant. From information gathered from field investigation, it can be

concluded that the Factory Employees sector is male dominated.

47

Age distribution

From the sample of 844 employees, only 0.1% (1) employee is less than 18 years. He/she is an

apprentice at the particular establishment. 18.5% (156) of the employees are from the age

group of 18 to 30 years, 24.3% (205) are from 31 to 40 years, 26.2% (221) are from 41 to 50

years, 29.6% (250) are from 51 to 65 years and 1.1% (9) are aged above 65 years. Response

could not be gathered from 0.2% (2) regarding the question of which age group they belong to.

Results show that the majority of employees in this sector belong to the age group of 51-65

years and it is employees in this age group who are sustaining the sector. Should employees in

this age group retire, relief would be difficult with the departure of skilled, experienced labour

force. The least number of employees is from the age group of less than 18 years. This may be

due to the fact that youngsters tend to pursue high level of education in order to secure their

future rather than leave their education at an early stage to start working.

It can be said that as far as the scope for promotion is concerned, this depends largely on the

size of the establishment and number of employees working in. If the establishment operates

with a very small number of employees working, the latter tend to stagnate in the same post for

years and years. Contractual part-time work appears to be almost inexistent in this sector.

48

Number of employees deriving a monthly basic wage of less than Rs 6,500

Out of the 26 establishments surveyed, 14 claim that they do not have any employee deriving a

monthly basic wage of less than Rs 6,500.

Level of agreement with the minimum wage of Rs 6,500

To a question put to employers as to whether they are agreeable with the minimum wage of Rs

6,500, 19 employees (73.1%) of the sample are agreeable while the remaining 7 employers

(26.9%) are not agreeable to same. The reasons stated for such agreement are as follows:

Employer is already paying more than the minimum wage proposed

For decent living an employee needs at least Rs 7,500 as a monthly basic wage

To ensure a better living standard

Rs 6,500 is not an exaggerated sum

On the other hand, employers tend to disagree with an increase in wages to Rs 6,500 because

of the following reasons:

Difficult situation since there is increasing competition while the size of the market is same

Appreciating foreign currency is not in favour of employer

Stagnant turnover coupled with the fall in purchasing power of customers

Lack of potential new recruits for employment and lack of commitment from youngsters

Employer has to face too much absenteeism.

The sector is highly labour intensive, much reliance is laid on employees to manufacture

There is fierce competition in the manufacturing sector coupled with significant shortage of

experienced labour force

Higher salary should be productivity linked

49

Analysis of Salary

In order to analyse salary of factory employees, the actual monthly basic wage of the different

categories of workers comprising of their monthly wage, daily wage on 5 and 6- day week have

been averaged and computed with respect to the years of service.

Accordingly, it can be found that on average, employees in this sector receive a basic wage

above those prevailing as per the Remuneration Regulations. 16.1% of the employees surveyed

state to be satisfied with their present basic wage while the remaining 83.9% of employees are

not. The reasons given to justify such dissatisfaction are:

High costs of living

Poor conditions of work, leading to health problems

Salary should be commensurate with length of service

Heavy workload

Salary is not enough; need to rely on overtime payment to sustain a decent living at the

detriment of one’s social and family life

High responsibility level assigned at the workplace

Work is physically demanding

Employee is indebted, he has to repay loan

Moreover, employees in this sector receive on average monthly earnings of Rs 15342. Monthly

earnings are composed of factors detailed in the table below.

Details Overtime

Payment in

a month

Meal

Allowance

Attendance

Bonus

Production

Bonus

Others

Average Rs 2,280 Rs 644 Rs 560 Rs 1,254 Rs 1,192

Range Rs 40 to

12,000

Rs 70 to

1,820

Rs 50 to

3,500

Rs 80 to

6,000

Rs 22 to

10,000

No. of employees

earning

308 71 625 108 225

No. of employees

not earning

536 773 219 736 619

50

It is to be noted that ‘others’ comprise of allowance paid to employees and they are namely;

Acting allowance

Cleaning allowance

Checking allowance

Cold room allowance

Risk allowance

Early arrival allowance

Laundry allowance

Incentive bonus

Night shift allowance

51

The employers sampled are in favour of an increase in the basic wage of employees in the

factory sector. On average they have proposed 18.5% increase in basic wage. The highest

increase has been proposed for the category of worker ‘accounts clerk’ and the lowest increase

for ‘factory attendant’. On the other hand, workers have proposed an increase by 66%.

52

PROPOSED WAGES

Factory Employees Remuneration Regulations PART I

Category of employee Year of service

Monthly Wage (Rs)

Chief clerk

Year1 11,230

Year2 11,455

Year3 11,692

Year4 11,971

Year5 12,185

Year6 12,486

Year7 12,733

Year8 & thereafter 12,990

Account Clerk, Cashier, Storekeeper

Year1 10,170 Year2 10,436

Year3 10,693

Year4 10,908

Year5 11,122

Year6 11,348

Year7 11,574


Clerk, Assistant Storekeeper

Year1 9,175 Year2 9,344

Year3 9,528

Year4 9,757

Year5 9,973

Year6 10,225

Year7 10,543


Word Processing Operator

Year1 8,877 Year2 9,054

Year3 9,230

Year4 9,447

Year5 9,665

Year6 9,898

53

Year7 10,125


Telephonist, Receptionist

Year1 8,646 Year2 8,822

Year3 8,999

Year4 9,208

Year5 9,424

Year6 9,643

Year7 9,876


Foreman, Forewoman

Year1 8,646 Year2 8,822

Year3 8,999

Year4 9,208

Year5 9,424

Year6 9,643

Year7 9,854


PART II


Daily wage for an

employee on a 5-day

week (Rs cs)

Daily wage for an

employee on a 6-day week

(Rs cs)

Monthly wage for an employee on a 5-day

week (Rs)

Monthly wage for

an employee

on a 6-day week

(Rs)

Factory Operator Year 1 369.29 308.38 8,124 8,018

Year 2 373.31 311.74 8,213 8,105

Year 3 377.13 314.92 8,297 8,188

Year 4 380.88 318.04 8,379 8,269

Year 5 385.18 321.62 8,474 8,362

Year 6 388.54 324.42 8,548 8,435

Year 7 391.76 327.11 8,619 8,505

Year8 & thereafter 395.10 329.89 8,692 8,577

Factory Attendant Year1 351.11 293.23 7,724 7,624

54

Year2 355.20 296.65 7,814 7,713

Year3 359.22 299.99 7,903 7,800

Year4 363.96 303.94 8,007 7,902

Year5 367.92 307.25 8,094 7,989

Year6 371.98 310.63 8,184 8,076

Year7 375.83 313.83 8,268 8,160

Year8 & thereafter 379.61 316.99 8,351 8,242

Unskilled Worker

Year 1 299.24 250.00 6,583 6,500 Year 2 303.15 253.26 6,669 6,585

Year 3 308.87 258.03 6,795 6,709

Year 4 312.75 261.26 6,881 6,793

Year 5 & thereafter 316.43 264.33 6,961 6,873

Watchperson

334.61

8,700

55

Annex E

Wage Review in

Light Metal and

Wooden Furniture

Workshops


Regulations 2002

56

Wage Review in Light Metals and Wooden Furniture Workshops


The sector encompasses two different types of activities, namely, metal work and woodwork.

According to the Remuneration Order Regulations 2002, the Light Metal and Wooden Furniture

workshops are principally defined as a workshops engaged in:

(i) building and repairing metal coaches;

(ii) manufacturing or repairing light metal structures, utensils, furniture, components for

buildings and other industrial and domestic use;

(iii) bending, cutting, welding, drilling and machining of metals for use in such manufacture

or repairs;

(iv) making and repairing of wooden and/or rattan furniture; or

(v) other allied occupations; and

The sector does not include an export enterprise.

The light metal engineering sector in Mauritius comprises of few large manufacturing

companies and an important number of small and medium enterprises operating in four main

clusters producing medium to high tech products, sheet metal/mechanical engineering, the

non-metallic/plastic engineering and the construction/civil engineering products.

Skilled employees are categorised into three grades, namely, grade I, II and III. An employee

who is highly skilled in the trade and whose work achieves a high degree of excellence is

described as a skilled employee grade I. The skilled employee grade II, conversely, means an

employee who does similar work as an employee grade I but has not achieved the high

standards required of an employee grade I. The skilled employee in grade III is one who has not

acquired the skills and/or experience in respect of an employee grade I or II but has the ability

to do some repetitive tasks of a routine or semi-routine nature.

57

Economic Analysis



From the chart, compensation of employees kept increasing over the years from Rs 433 Mn to

Rs 670 Mn for the period of 2007 to 2014. Compensation of employees as a percentage of value

added also increased from 22.8% in 2007 to 27.1% in 2014.

Share of GDP

The figures below indicate the share of GDP of the Light Metal and Wooden Furniture sector in

Mauritius over the period 2007 to 2014.

58


The value added of the Light Metal and Wooden Furniture sector has been fluctuating over the

period 2007 to 2014. For instance, value added fell slightly by 0.6% in 2008 compared to 2007

followed by a rise of 13.5% in 2009. Same rose again by 5.6% in 2010 followed by a rise of 3.1%

in 2011. Value added dropped by 2.7% in 2012 and but gradually rose to 12.6% in 2013 to again

dropped to 3.1% in 2014 where the value added reached Rs 2,471 Mn.

According to Statistics Mauritius, share of GDP pertaining to this sector stood on a range of

0.7% to 0.9% for the period 2007 to 2014. For instance, in the years 2008, 2011 and 2013, the

share of GDP was at 0.8%. In the years 2012 and 2014, the sector witnessed a slight fall where

same stood at 0.7%. Exceptionally the GDP for the years 2007, 2009 and 2010 was at 0.9%. It is

59

further to be noted that this sector holds an insignificant share of GDP over the period 2007 to

2014.

Real Growth Rate

The following chart illustrates the real growth rate of the sector over the period 2007 to 2013.

The real growth rate refers to changes in GDP pertaining to the sector of the sector over years

after necessary adjustments have been made to changes in price level, ceteris paribus.


The real growth rate of the Light Metal and Wooden Furniture sector kept fluctuating over the

period 2008 to 2014. In 2009, same reached the peak at 12.8%, while in 2010 the sector

experienced a sharp fall in growth rate where same reached 0.1% and kept falling in 2011 to

0.1%. In 2012 and 2013 real growth rate rejuvenated to 2.7% and 4.8% respectively. But this

sector re-experienced a sharp fall of 5% in 2014.

60

PROPOSED WAGES

Light Metal and Wooden Furniture Workshops (Remuneration Order) Regulations

PART I

Category of employee Year of service Monthly

basic wages

(Rs)

Accounts Clerk, Cashier, Storekeeper 1st year 10,131

2nd year 10,336

3rd year 10,496

4th year 10,657

5th year 10,888

6th year 11,108

7th year 11,338


Clerk

1st year 9,615

2nd year 9,838

3rd year 9,991

4th year 10,153

5th year 10,432

6th year 10,657

7th year 10,882


Word Processing Operator

1st year 9,257

2nd year 9,421

3rd year 9,572

4th year 9,737

5th year 10,013

6th year 10,292

7th year 10,517


Receptionist/Telephonist

1st year 8,367

2nd year 8,532

61

3rd year 8,687

4th year 8,841

5th year 9,085

6th year 9,324

7th year 9,550


PART II

Category of employee Year of service Daily basic

wages

Monthly basic

wages

(Rs cs) (Rs) Cabinet Maker ( Superior Grade)

1st year 395.84 10,292

2nd year 398.30 10,356

3rd year 400.38 10,410

4th year 402.45 10,464

5th year & thereafter 404.50 10,517

Blacksmith, Cabinet Maker, Electrician,

Fitter, Machine Operator, Mechanic,

Painter, Panel Beater, Pipe Bender,

Trimmer, Turner, Upholsterer, Welder

and other employees in charge of

sophisticated equipment Year of Service

Daily basic wages(Rs cs)

Grade I Grade II Grade

III

(Rs cs) (Rs cs) (Rs cs)

1st year 378.39 349.82 323.93

2nd year 380.54 352.47 326.46

3rd year 382.65 354.74 328.61

4th year 384.74 356.93 330.74

5th year & thereafter 386.78 359.01 332.85

Monthly basic wages (Rs)

1st year 9,838 9,095 8,422

62

2nd year 9,894 9,164 8,488

3rd year 9,949 9,223 8,544

4th year 10,003 9,280 8,599

5th year & thereafter 10,056 9,334

8,654

Daily basic wages (Rs cs)

Monthly basic

wages (Rs)

Apprentice 1st year 250.00 6,500

2nd year 259.00 6,734

3rd year 267.89 6,965

4th year 276.94 7,200

5th year 286.89 7,459

Category Year of service Monthly Basic Wages

Grade I Grade II Other

(Rs) (Rs) (Rs) Driver

1st year 9,659 9,410 9,148

2nd year 9,715 9,465 9,205

3rd year 9,770 9,518 9,262

4th year 9,883 9,572 9,319

5th year & thereafter 9,938 9,626 9,383

Lorry helper

1st year 8,422

2nd year 8,488

3rd year 8,544


Attendant

Daily basic wages (Rs cs)

Monthly basic

wages (Rs)

1st year 307.89 8,005

2nd year 310.15 8,064

3rd year 312.50 8,125


63

Watchperson

1st year 320.54 8,334

2nd year 322.66 8,389

3rd year 324.82 8,445


64

Annex F

Wage Review

in

Nursing Homes


Regulations 1983

65

Wage Review in Nursing Homes


The future prosperity of Mauritius depends on the good health of its people. For further

progress, we must increasingly ensure that our people are fit and well. Better education and

better health are the twin pillars of sustainable economic and social development. Hence,

adequate health systems/facilities are crucial for the healthy development of individuals,

families and societies everywhere. They provide the crucial interface between life-saving, life-

enhancing interventions and the people who need them. Health systems thus deserve the

highest priority in any effort to improve health or ensure that resources are cost-effectively

used (Ministry of Health, 2015). The mission of most nursing home is to offer the best

treatment within the shortest time and sufficient level of comfort for the patients under their

care.

In Mauritius, the state provides free health care services throughout the country to its

population. It also has a well-established medical system in the private sector. It can therefore

be classified into two categories, the public and private sector. The public sector includes

hospitals and health centres across the island. On the other hand, the 'private sector' includes

private clinics which provide paid services to any individual who is willing to pay for the

services.

People tend to have a preference for either public hospitals or private clinics. With higher levels

of disposable income and availability of affordable health insurance policies, more and more

people are taking private insurance health cover. People opted for public hospitals/regional

health centres because

(i) they were generally close by and easily accessible,

(ii) hospitals care and treatment are free and hospitals are better equipped to deal with

emergencies.

66

Long waiting time, unprofessional attitude of some staff members, poor hygiene conditions are

often cited for choosing a private clinic over public hospitals.

67

Economic Analysis

Compensation of Employees in Nursing Homes




similar schemes are also included. According to Statistics Mauritius, Nursing Homes in Mauritius

comprise of different types of entities, namely clinics, firms providing ‘other health activities’

and organisation undertaking social work with accommodation.

From the charts, the compensation of employees increased over the years for the three

'groups', more specifically, for clinics from Rs 483 Mn to Rs 945 Mn, other health activities from

Rs 84 Mn to Rs 241 Mn and social work with accommodation from Rs 32 Mn to Rs 54 Mn for

the period of 2009 to 2014. However, compensation of employees as a percentage of value

added for the period 2009 to 2014 remain constant for the 3 'groups' with 69.0 % for clinics,

84.0 % for other health activities and 17.0 % for social work with accommodation.

68

Share in Gross Domestic Product

GDP is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's

border in a specific time period, though GDP is usually calculated on an annual basis.



69

Over the period 2009 to 2014, value added of the different composition of nursing homes have

been continuously rising, whereby the highest contribution of value added being that from

clinics from Rs 700 Mn to Rs 1,370 Mn. However, the share of GDP from nursing homes is very

insignificant. On average, for the period 2009 to 2014, the share of GDP of clinics was on

average 0.4%, while that of “other health activities” was an average of 0.1% and that of social

work with accommodation was constantly at 0.1%.

Real Growth Rate of Nursing Homes

The real growth rate of Nursing Homes, which is growth rate in monetary terms after necessary

adjustments have been made to changes in the price level, is illustrated in the following graph.


Over the period 2009 to 2014, the real growth rates of the different composition of nursing

homes have been fluctuating. Regarding the real growth rate of clinics in 2009, same stood at

29.2%, but in 2010, it fell to 9.0%. Nevertheless, real growth rate rose in 2011 to 15.7% and

stagnated at 6.6% in 2012 and 2013 and fell to 6.5% in 2014.

70

The real growth rate of ‘other health activities’ rose from 18.8% in 2009 to 24.6% in 2011 but

fell to 14.8% in 2012 whereby stagnating at the same rate in 2013 and to 10% in 2014. As for

social work with accommodation, real growth rate increased from 8.3% in 2009 to 14.0% in

2011, while it fell to 1.7% in 2012 and stagnated in 2013 and 2014.

Factual Analysis

In order to determine minimum wage of employees in the nursing home sector, field

investigations have been carried out in a sample of 5 related establishments. The sample

selected is multivariable, comprising of different sizes as well as distinct number of employees.

Furthermore, in order to ensure fairness in the analysis exercise, survey has been carried out

with the employees in different job categories.

Demographics of workers interviewed

Permanent v/s Contractual workers

The sample of 159 workers comprises of 118 female and 41 male workers. Further, according to

these employees, 151 (94.9%) are working on a permanent and full time basis while the

remaining 8 (5.03%) work under a contractual mode on a full time basis. The latter reckon an

average of 6 contracts with the same employer with the majority not being aware of the

duration thereof.

71

Age Distribution

The average age group of employees is 31 to 40 years, as illustrated in the chart below.

Same is followed by employees in the age group of 18 to 30 years and 51 to 65 years.

Employees in this sector tend to be of differentiated age group, that is young, middle age and

senior (experienced) age groups.

Length of service

The average number of years of service in present employment is found to be 0 to 5 years (68

workers). Same is followed by 6 to 11 years with 46 employees averring same. The number of

years in present employment is illustrated in the chart below.

72

Number of employees deriving less than Rs 6,500

According to the employers surveyed, 61 employees derive a basic wage of less than Rs 6,500,

which represent 5.6% of their total employment. The highest proportion of employees deriving

a basic wage of less than Rs 6,500 rests with a single operator in the sector.


Out of the 5 employers surveyed, 4 are agreeable with the fixation of a minimum salary of Rs

6,500 per month. The rationale behind same are:

Employees need to benefit from a decent salary to improve efficiency at the workplace

Employees in the sector are required to work very long and odd hours, and should hence be

fairly remunerated

Overall high costs of living faced by employees

73

Analysis on Salary

It is found that on average, the monthly basic salary is Rs 13,757. Same represents an

overvaluation of monthly basic salary by Rs 5,809 compared to that prescribed in the

Remuneration Regulations. The highest monthly basic salary amounting to Rs 27,575 is

observed to be paid to charge nurses or ward sisters, while launderers are found to be least

paid with a monthly basic salary of Rs 8,400 in this sector. Moreover, the average monthly

earnings to be found in this sector according to the employees surveyed amount to Rs 15,040.

Accordingly, the medical laboratory technicians are found to be earning the highest income of

Rs 31,550 and lowest income is earned by nursing home attendants amounting to Rs 8,503.

Monthly earnings are comprised of overtime payments, and other allowances, a breakdown of

same is given below.

Details Overtime

Payment

In a month

Meal

Allowance in a

month

Night Shift

Allowance in a

month

Other

allowances

earned during a

month

Average Rs 1,807 Rs 472 Rs 2,438 Rs 1,452

Range Rs 200 to Rs

7,500

Rs 40 to Rs 700 Rs 200 to 4,000 Rs 200 to Rs

4,800

No. of employees

earning

47 74 9 46

No. of employees

not earning

112 85 150 113

74

According to employees interviewed, monthly earnings comprise mainly of payments such as

overtime, meal allowances, night shift allowances and other allowances, such as:

Responsibility allowance

Attendance bonus

Commitment bonus

Special allowances, in emergency cases.

75

PROPOSED WAGES

Nursing Homes (remuneration Order) Regulations

PART A Category of worker Year of service Monthly salary

(Rs)

Charge Nurse/ Ward Sister 11,718

Medical Laboratory Technician

1st year 10,608

2nd year 10,725

3rd year 10,875

4th year 11,042


Radiographer

1st year 10,608

2nd year 10,725

3rd year 10,875

4th year 11,015


Nurse

1st year 9,494

2nd year 9,624

3rd year 9,731

4th year 9,923

5th year 10,107

6th year 10,355

7th year 10,608

8th year 10,779

9th year 10,988


Dispenser

1st year 8,545

2nd year 8,695

3rd year 8,823

4th year 9,005


Assistant Nurse

1st year 8,072

76

2nd year 8,250

3rd year 8,400

4th year 8,545

5th year 8,695

6th year 8,889

7th year 9,068

8th year 9,275

9th year 9,494


Midwife

1st year 8,367

2nd year 8,512

3rd year 8,655

4th year 8,793

5th year 8,917

6th year 9,097

7th year 9,303

8th year 9,521

9th year 9,705


Nursing Aid

1st year 6,855

2nd year 6,995

3rd year 7,170

4th year 7,669

5th year 8,072

6th year 8,326

7th year 8,545

8th year 8,757

9th year 8,945


PART B Category of worker Year of service Monthly salary

(Rs)

Driver

8,545

Cook

1st year 8,072

2nd year 8,250


77

Receptionist

1st year 7,964

2nd year 8,176


Nursing Home Attendant, Launderer

1st year 6,500

2nd year 6,774

3rd year 7,055

4th year 7,248


Gardener

7,667

Kitchen Help

1st year 6,500

2nd year 6,855


Watchperson

7,829

Handyperson

9,068

78

Annex G

Wage Review

of

Pre-primary School

Employees


Regulations 2000

79

Wage Review of Preprimary school employees

Overview of the sector

Education, being a very broad concept, is not only intended to nurture the intellectual capacity

of a human being but also to promote his physical, mental, environmental and social

development. Under its philosophical aspect, education frames and builds the character of an

individual, enabling him to face future challenges in life.

The sector consists of a diversity of workforce including teachers, pedagogues, nursery workers,

child minders, day care staff, volunteers, helpers and cleaners. Such employees need to be

backed by relevant experience, education and/ or training as they handle human beings of very

low age groups who require much attention. In Mauritius, pre-primary schools are regulated by

the Early Childhood Care and Education Authority (ECCEA) which is a parastatal body falling

under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Human Resource, Tertiary Education and Scientific

Research.

The pre primary school is the place which caters for the physical development, cognitive and

language development, personal, social and emotional development. It builds on what has

been acquired by the child at home or at day care centers. Since many children grow up in an

environment where both parents are working, pre-school undoubtedly plays a key role in caring

for and educating children. According to the National Curriculum Framework for Pre-primary

schools, quality pre-school education not only has a positive impact on children but also brings

cost effective benefits to the society.

Pre-primary education has a long existence in Mauritius and targets children in the 3-5 years’

age range. The government, through the Preschool Trust Fund, manages pre-primary units

attached to primary schools. It is good to note that conditions of work and remuneration of

workers attached to the latter schools are governed by the PRB. The Preschool Trust Fund also

acts as a regulatory body for private pre-primary schools. The Ministry of Education, Culture

and Human Resources, through its Strategic Plan (2008-2020) has affirmed that all children

80

aged 3 to 5 years have to attend pre-primary school, followed by 6 years of compulsory primary

schooling starting at the age of 5.

Economic Analysis

Compensation of Employees in Pre Primary Schools






Compensation of employees increased from Rs 144 Mn to Rs 191 Mn for the period of 2009 to

2014. However, there has been a decrease from 55.4% in 2009 to 52.8 % in 2014 in

compensation of employees as a percentage of value added after 2009.

81

Share of Gross Domestic Product


82

The value added of Pre Primary Schools (private) has been continuously rising over the period

2009 to 2012, staying stable for the period 2013 and 2014. Same was at Rs 259 Mn in 2009 and

grew up to Rs 362 Mn in 2014. The share of GDP of the sector is very insignificant. On average,

the share of GDP remained at 0.1% over the same period.

Real Growth Rate of Preprimary Schools (Private)

The real growth rate refers to growth rate after adjusting for inflation, other things remaining

constant.


Real growth rate fluctuated from the year 2009 to 2011, moving from 1.6% in 2009 to 0.8% in

2010 and 2.1% in 2011. Nevertheless, real growth rate rose to 9.0% in 2012 and stagnated in

2013 and 2014.

Factual Analysis

199 employees from the 31 establishments selected were interviewed for the review of the pre

primary school employees Remuneration Regulations 2000.

83

The minimum normal operating hours for pre-primary schools in sampled establishments is 5

hours and the maximum is 9 hours. Generally school starts at 9 hours in the morning but

employees may be required to start work as from 8.30 hours. Some rare schools welcome

students as from 7.30 hours, thus allowing flexibility to parents who need to drop their children

early in the morning before going at their place of work. Operating hours vary between 7.30

and 16.00.

The number of employees varied between 2 and 72 with an average of 16 for the operators

who participated in the survey exercise.

The pre-primary sector is a sector principally composed of female personnel. At almost all

levels, female employment is favoured over male employment, be it teacher, cook or school

attendant. The responsibilities at these establishments call for prompt action on the part of all

employees. Employees may be required to accompany children to the washroom or help

children with their meals. Members of the personnel may be called upon to assist a child in

case the latter is unwell.

Age Distribution of interviewed employees

Age group Total

Less than 18 years 1

18 to 30 years 53

31 to 40 years 64

41 to 50 years 44

51 to 65 years 35

Above 65 years 2

Total number of interviewed employees

199

Of whom

Single 29

Married 141

Otherwise 29

84

Distribution of employees interviewed by type of employment contract

Permanent Contractual Total

Full time Part time Full time Part time

181 4 13 1 199

Full time permanent employment constitutes of 91% of total employment (188). Contractual

employment is not very common in this sector. Those employed on a contractual mode are

trainee teachers who generally have yet to prove their competence before being employed on

a permanent basis. Among those employed on a part time mode are cleaners, helpers,

gardeners and maintenance officers.

Length of service in present employment and in actual grade/position

46 of the 199 (23.12%) interviewees claim to have benefitted from a change in job category or a

promotion from one grade to another within the same establishment. This sector provides little

scope for promotion for the different job categories except for the category of teacher. The

present Remuneration Regulations cater for the post of teacher supervisor, teacher Grades A, B

and C. Information gathered during the survey confirms the fact that employees may be

recruited as trainee teachers but may subsequently promoted to the post of assistant teacher,

then teacher in the different grades and eventually to teacher supervisor.

Distribution of sampled employees in the different job categories

Job category No. of employees

interviewed

Teacher Supervisor 3

Teacher (Grade B) 56

Teacher (Grade A) 41

Teacher (Grade C) 25

Trainee teacher 7

School attendant 46

Cook 8

85

Job category No. of employees

interviewed

Teacher Supervisor 3

Assistant cook 1

Assistant teacher 6

Handyperson 5

Driver 1

Total 199

The average actual monthly basic wage pertaining to the preprimary schools is found to be Rs

8,776.51. Further observations concluded the fact that all job categories in the preprimary

schools prevailing in the existing Remuneration Regulations happen to benefit from monthly

basic wages exceeding those prescribed.

Field investigation reveals that 88 of the 199 employees interviewed derive a basic salary of less

than Rs 6,500 (44.22%) as at 2014. It is to be pointed out that among these 88 employees, 55

have prescribed basic wages less than Rs 6500 and 33 have prescribed wages exceeding Rs

6,500.

86

PROPOSED WAGES

Pre-Primary School Employees (Remuneration Order) Regulations


Monthly basic wages

(Rs) Teaching staff

Teacher Supervisor

9,941

Teacher (Grade A)

1st year 8,761

2nd year 8,860

3rd year 8,976

4th year 9,081

5th year 9,202

6th year 9,312

7th year 9,451

8th year 9,573

9th year 9,711


Teacher (Grade B)

1st year 8,118

2nd year 8,227

3rd year 8,351

4th year 8,451


Teacher (Grade C)

Less than 5 years 7,796

5 to 10 years 8,118

more than 10 years & thereafter 8,403

Non -teaching staff

Cook

7,348

Gardener/Handyperson

6,500

87

School Attendant

1st year 7,348

2nd year 7,436

3rd year 7,525

4th year 7,619


88

Annex H

Wage Review in

Salt Manufacturing

Industry


Regulations 1983

89

Wage Review in the Salt Manufacturing Industry


Salt production in Mauritius has unluckily not been upgraded by much. Though the government

has diversified the economy from the once sugar production, salt production has stayed

unchanged during the years.

Salt production dates back to the French period and today the process of its making almost two

centuries later on has remained unchanged. Salt production in Mauritius is conducted in salt

pans. This activity is mainly carried out in the west of the island in the Black River district

whereby sea water is pumped into large, shallow pans and the water is left to evaporate leaving

the salt behind. It is then harvested manually and stored away to be sent to a refining plant

later on. This activity is only carried out in the west as it is the hottest and driest part of the

island.

Five thousand tons of salt is made per year through this process. Since salt production depends

on climatic conditions, the maximum load is in summer (November to March) and lowest load

in winter (April to October). Once collected, the raw salt is set aside in a storage area nearby

provisionally and then taken to a refinery plant. The refinery “Raffinerie de L’Ouest” then

eliminates dirt from the salt and smashes into finer particles. The salt is then packed and placed

on the market.

Statistics Mauritius data indicate that as at March 2013 there were 89 employees engaged in

the extraction of salt. There were 77 males and 62 females working in this sector in 2012 (total

of 139) and 48 males and 41 females in 2013 (total of 89) which means an overall decrease in

employment of 36% in the workforce from 2012 to 2013.

The salt industry is currently going through a critical phase whereby employees engaged in the

related activities are facing a huge threat of unemployment. With the liberalization of the

import of salt, consumers have the choice between the locally produced salt and the imported

substitutes. Salt production, having hardly undergone any change in terms of creativity,

90

innovation and economic foresight, same is weighing heavily on the future of this sector.

Imported salt from China at a relatively more competitive price is most likely to threaten the

continuity of this local product, thereby jeopardizing employment in the sector. The Salt-

Manufacturing Industry (Remuneration Order) Regulations 1983 was partially reviewed in

1994.

91

Economic Analysis


Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by

an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting

period. Compensation of employees has two main components: wages and salaries payable in

cash or in kind; and social insurance contributions payable by employers, which include

contributions to social security schemes such as the NPS; actual social contributions to other

employment-related social insurance schemes.


From the above figures, the compensation of employees in the sector kept falling from 2007 to

2009 from Rs 7 Mn to Rs 4 Mn. However, same stagnated at Rs 5Mn from 2010 to 2014. It is

further found that the ratio of compensation of employees to value added of the sector was on

average 46.95% over the period 2007 to 2014. It is worth noting that this sector is highly labour

intensive.

92


Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the measures of national income and output for a given

country's economy. It is the total value of all final goods and services produced in a particular

economy; the monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders in

a given year.

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

02

46

810

121416

Value addedValue added

20072009

20112013

0

0.01

0

0.01

Share in GDP(%)

As per data from Statistics Mauritius, the value added pertaining to the Salt Industry was quite

fluctuating over the period 2007 to 2014. The sector faced downturns in the years 2008 and

2009 where value added for Salt Industry fell by 13.3% and 30.8% respectively. Same rose in

2010 by 22.2% and fell in 2011 by 9.1%. In the year 2012, the sector benefited from a growth of

20% when it reached Rs 12 Mn but continued to fall until 2014 reaching 9 Mn.

Further, the share of GDP is insignificant and converged to zero over the whole period. Same

can be explained by increased restrictions on the exploitation of the seas in Mauritius to extract

salt, which happen to be a sustainable measure.

93

PROPOSED WAGES

Category of

worker

Daily wages

(Rs cs)

Monthly wages

(Rs)

Male worker 271.93 7,070

Female worker 271.93 7,070

Foreman 316.58 8,231

Alimentateur 292.31 7,600

Mason 310.54 8,074

Watchperson 271.93 7,070

Factory Operator 292.31 7,600

94

Annex I

Wage Review

in

Sugar Industry

(Agricultural Workers)

Remuneration Orders

Regulations 1983

95

Wage Review in the Sugar Industry (Agricultural Workers)


The sugarcane plant was introduced in Mauritius in 1639 by Dutch colonizers to produce

artisanal rum. The first sugar mill was set up at Ville Bague in 1745. Subsequent colonial powers

(France and then Great Britain) used slave trade and indentured labour system to expand and

consolidate the industry. At its peak, there were 259 sugar mills in 1838 in Mauritius. In 1968,

the Mauritian economy was highly dependent on a mono-crop agriculture that is sugar cane. By

that time, the sugar cane sector contributed towards over 90% of our annual exports and the

near totality of our foreign exchange earnings. Nearly 50% of land of the island representing

over 90% of all cultivated land was occupied by sugar cane. The sugar industry was the largest

employer with over 30% of the total workforce. As such, the sugar industry remained, for many

years, the main contributor to the development of the island. According to Mauritius Sugar

Producers Association (MSPA), the sugar industry has had a major role in the development and

stability of Mauritius, more particularly of rural areas.

The sugar workforce has been in steady decline since the mid-80s a time when the labour

intensive textile industry poached workers away from the estates. The reduction was

somewhat desired due to increasing mechanised harvesting. The sector is facing the same

problem as most other sectors: shortage of skilled labour. Thus, the import of temporary labour

during harvest season is now an option being considered.

According to Omnicane Report 2011, the sugar industry has been the backbone of the

Mauritian economy for decades. Being a member of the ACP countries, Mauritius has for long

benefited from a ready market and a guaranteed price for its sugar export on the EU market

under the Sugar Protocol of the Lome Convention.

The Sugar Reforms

The creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995 paved the way for settling trade

disputes, and in its ruling, Europe was required to rationalise its Sugar Industry. After being

criticised for many years, EU sugar policy faced a ruling in 2004, handed down by the World

96

Trade Organisation (WTO), claiming that the European Union’s support policy allows European

countries to illegally export sugar. The ruling was the result of an investigation motivated by

complaints from Brazil, Thailand and Australia, three major sugar producers, who claimed that

EU sugar policy was highly trade distorting and would have to be reevaluated if free trade were

to be achieved. WTO panel and to make the EU sugar sector more compatible with the rest of

the world, the EU Council reformed the sugar industry in 2005. This reform involved a

progressive reduction in export subsidies and a large cut in the intervention price starting in

2006. The implications of an EU sugar regime adjustment have been projected to be a reduction

in the quantity of sugar exported and a fall in the European domestic price of sugar by 36% over

a four cut in 2006, 25% in 2007, 30% in 2008 and 36% cut in 2009.

Since 1975, Mauritius, as a member of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of

countries, has, through the Sugar Protocol annexed to the LOME Convention, been benefiting

from a preferential market access, including a fixed quota and a guaranteed price, for its sugar

export to the European Union.

In view of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the EU and the world trade

liberalisation process, Mauritius has engaged into a restructuring program of the sugar industry

since 1984. The implementation of the EU sugar reform leading to a drastic price cut of 36% in

2009 has prompted the stakeholders of the industry to accelerate and deepen this reform.

According to Mauritius Sugar Authority report, reform in the sugar industry is on-going process

since 1859 but to which new impetus was given as from 1984. Competitiveness Improvement

Programmes have been a permanent feature of the sugar industry ever since 1984, when for

the first time Government came up with an overall strategy for the sugar industry. This strategy

was reviewed in 1988 through a major study, the Sugar Industry Efficiency Study which laid

down the framework for action for nearly a decade. The bagasse electricity and the reduction

of oil dependency questions were dealt with in the Bagasse Energy Development Programme

which was formulated in 1991.

Sugar has been traded under the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement since 1951 and under the

Sugar Protocol since 1975. The production of sugar has been encouraged by marketing

97

arrangements with consuming countries (principally Britain), which have guaranteed prices and

markets for the Mauritian crop. Mauritius has made constant efforts to improve and maintain

the economic viability of this industry which has been the very lifeblood of its economy. The

government has acquired a portion of this reliable sugar income through a sugar export tax.

Since 1984 the Mauritius Sugar Authority, operating under the Ministry of Agriculture, has

advised the government regarding sugar policy. In addition, the authority acts as a nexus

between the government and the numerous organisations involved in sugar production. These

organizations include parastatal, producers', and workers' organisations, as well as extension

and research bodies. The private Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, which has offices in London and

Brussels, handles all aspects of domestic and foreign sugar marketing, including transportation,

finance, insurance, and customs duties. The Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute

(M.S.I.R.I.) conducts research in such areas as plant breeding, entomology, and food-crop

agronomy.

With the modernisation and restructuring process of the Sugar Industry, the number of sugar

milling factories has been reduced to only four after 2010, compared to seven as at end 2007;

they are namely Omnicane, Terra, Medine and Alteo.

According to Statistics Mauritius, at the end of June 2015, some 4,173 hectares under sugar

cane for crop 2015 were harvested, yielding 352,026 tonnes of sugar cane and 28,780 tonnes of

sugar. The corresponding figures for the same period of 2014 were 4,133 hectares, 319,391

tonnes of sugar cane and 28,583 tonnes of sugar respectively. The average extraction rate as at

end of June 2015 was 8.18% compared to 8.95% as at end of June 2014.

The latest estimate of the Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture for the production of sugar for the

2015 crop is 410,000 tonnes, representing an increase of 2.5% compared to 400,173 tonnes for

2014.

98

Economic Analysis


Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by

an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting

period. Compensation of employees has two main components: wages and salaries payable in

cash or in kind; and social insurance contributions payable by employers, which include

contributions to social security schemes such as the NPS; actual social contributions to other

employment-related social insurance schemes.

Year Compensation of

employees

(Rs Mn)

Compensation of

employees as a % of

Value added

2007 1,659 38.3

2008 1,610 38.1

2009 1,395 40

2010 1,251 41

2011 1,320 36.7

2012 1,468 39.7

2013 1,309 40.4

2014 1,272 40.8


Compensation of employees in the sugar sector has had a drastic fall of 23.3% from the year

2007 to 2014. Same can be explained by the VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) Policy that

was implemented in the sugarcane industry. Whereas compensation of employees as a

percentage of value added has been quite fluctuating over the same years. However on

99

average, the percentage of compensation to value added of the sector was 39.4% over the

period 2007 to 2014.

Share in Gross Domestic Product

GDP is total currency value of all final goods and services produced in an economy over a period

of time, generally a year.


Value added of the sugarcane (Agricultural) industry curbed in many years over the period 2007

to 2014. For instance, in 2008, value added fell by 2.4% when it reached Rs 4230 Mn compared

to Rs 4,334 Mn in 2007. Further, the value added continued falling in 2009 by 17.5% and in

2010 by 12.6%. In 2011, value added went up by 18% reaching Rs 3,599 Mn. In 2012, value

added from the industry continued increasing but at a less rapid rate, that is, by only 2.7% and

went down again by 15.7% and reached Rs 3,114 Mn in 2014. The economic downturn of this

industry can be explained by the fact that the new face of the Mauritius sugar industry has

consolidated from about 20 small and medium groups into four large companies – Omnicane,

Terra, Medine and Alteo – whilst the number of cane growers has also shrunk.

100

Real Growth Rate of Sugarcane (Agriculture) Industry

Real Growth rate refers to the growth rate, that is, changes in value added of the sector over

and above the previous years, after necessary adjustments have been made to changes in the

price level.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Growth rate of Sugarcane (Agriculture) Industry

Growth rate


Real Growth rates in the sector have been alarming over the period 2007 to 2014. In 2007, real

growth rate went down to -14.2%. In 2008, the sector recovered after benefiting from a

positive growth rate of 4.8% and further in 2009 of 12.5%. In 2010, the sector regressed to

-6.4% and rejuvenated in 2011 with growth rate of 3.5%. Growth rate fell again to -7.3% in

2012, further in 2013 at -1.9% and in 2014 at -1.7%. Mauritius, as other former European

colonies, benefited for years from the so-called Sugar Protocol of the Lome Convention, which

guaranteed both duty-free accesses to Europe and higher prices than on the global market.

Since Mauritius is no longer benefiting from the preferential treatments, this has contributed

greatly to the decline in its growth rate as well as to GDP in the production of sugarcane.

101

In his submission before the Board in relation to the partial review of the present Remuneration

Regulations, the representative of the CTSP made a demand that the collective agreement

signed between JNP and MSPA be extended to the whole of the sector.

Bearing in mind that (i) the majority of workers in this sector are covered by terms and

conditions of the aforesaid collective agreement and (ii) that the number of private cane

growers has drastically shrunk, (iii) the number of workers associated with such cane growers

are quite insignificant as compared to the total number of workers in this sector and (iv) the

said workers are very often employed on a casual basis, the Board accepts the demand made

by the Union.

Taking into consideration the provisions made in Section 20 of the Employment Right Act 2008

as amended and ILO Convention 100 on equal remuneration for work of equal value to which

Mauritius is signatory, the Board invites the Honourable Minister to take any necessary action

he may deem appropriate to cause the collective agreement between JNP and MSPA to be

extended to the whole of the sector.

102

Annex J

Wage Review in

Tea Industry


Regulations 1984

103

Wage Review in the Tea Industry

Overview of the Tea Industry in Mauritius

As part of its agricultural diversification efforts, the government supported the large-scale

production of tea in the late 1960s. Second to sugar in exports, tea covered 2,870 hectares in

1991. The Tea Development Authority (TDA) owned and controlled three-fourths of this land,

which it rented to tenant growers. The production of tea has been hindered by high costs,

including labour costs and by fluctuations in world prices. Since 1986 the government has

subsidized tea production to compensate for low prices. In the same year, it established the

Mauritius Tea Factories Company to manage four factories that had been run by the TDA.

Major Development

In 1955, the Government launched the Tea Smallholding Scheme and the Project Planters

Scheme. The aim of the Smallholding project was to establish tea plantations on Crown Lands

for eventual long-term leasing at nominal rental rates to smallholders grouped in tea

cooperative societies. The Project Planters’ Scheme aimed at leasing state lands to prospective

planters who were agreeable to establish tea plantations at their own costs. Tea villages were

established by the Government to encourage the smallholders to live in vicinity of the tea

plantations.

The Tea Control Board was established to regulate and organise the activities of the expanding

Tea Industry, the Tea Industry Control Ordinance 1959 came in force in February 1960. To

resolve the major problem of unemployment prevailing in Mauritius in the late sixties, the

government decided to promote tea development in the super humid zones not suitable for

sugar-cane plantation. The private sector joined forces with government and established the

Dubreuil Tea Factory in 1967. The factory provided processing facilities for leaf harvested by

smallholders.

The TDA was created to consolidate small holders’ scheme on state lands and to widen the

scheme geographically in other areas. By 1975, the TDA established 1234 additional hectares of

tea plantation. People joined the TDA as trainees to ultimately cultivate tea as smallholders.

104

The trainee smallholders completed their training programme in the early eighties. It was only

in 1984, a year marked by booming tea prices that they expressed such concern and that

became possible to lease out the tea plantations to them.

105

Critical Situation in Late Eighties

In July 1986, the Mauritius Tea Factories Co Ltd was instituted to take over the tea

manufacturing and marketing activities of the TDA. The TDA's role was restricted to

management of smallholders and monitoring of leaf produced by this category of tea planters.

Despite the above step taken by the government to improve matters in the tea industry, the

situation in the Tea Sector was still gloomy, largely because of low international prices in 1987

and rapid increase in local production costs. The government was ahead by subsidizing the

public tea manufacture sector heavily to ensure its survival. To make sure that planters obtain

fair revenue, a guaranteed green leaf price was introduced. Nevertheless, the situation did not

improve appreciably for the three year that followed.

Agricultural Diversification of Public Tea Sector

Attempts to improve the economy of this industry remained ineffective. Mauritius could not

compete with major tea producing countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Kenya since in these

countries, tea is produced at altitude much higher than Mauritius; as a consequence, the

‘rendement’ and quality are not comparable. To safeguard the livelihood of tea smallholders,

the government came ahead with the projects to diversify tea to other activities mainly

sugarcane.

Agricultural diversification in the Public Tea Sector started in February 1995. This project aimed

at converting some 2,500 hectares (6,000 arpents) of tea into sugar cane and was originally

scheduled to end in year 2001. With the additional quota of 85,000 tons of sugar from the Euro

refiners, the government decided with the help of the five sugar estates involved in the

conversion of the tea belts, to accelerate the diversification programme. The diversification

programme was completed in August 1999.

106

The Modern Tea Industry

As from 1999-2000, the tea industry moved into a new phase marked by the following:

(1) Tea Plantation covered an area of about 760 hectares.

(2) Only private tea factories are in operation. These are the Bois Cheri, Corson, La Flora and

La Chartreuse which started operating only as from January 2000.

(3) Tea is largely manufactured for local consumption. Imports were resorted to only when the

return was superior to the cost of providing the product on the market concerned.

(4) The guaranteed green price scheme was terminated. There has been however no

explanation for its continued existence in the new phase.

Drinking tea is a tradition in Mauritius. In every household, there is at least one person drinking

tea on a daily basis. Consequently, the average consumption of tea in the island is one kilo per

head. The average mauritian drinks black tea, though some Mauritians of Chinese origin

generally consume green tea. The price of tea is significantly lower compared to coffee which is

a direct substitute.

As the Mauritian population is becoming more health conscious, it is expected that the tea

consumption will keep on increasing. As a matter of fact the consumption of tea has been

proved scientifically to be good for health and it can inhibit cancer development and reduce the

risk of development of heart diseases.

According to Statistics Mauritius, tea plantation area increased by 0.4% from 669 hectares in

2012 to 672 hectares in 2013. The production of manufactured tea decreased by 0.9% from

1,577 tonnes in 2012 to 1,563 tonnes in 2013. The green tea leaves produced in 2013 were

estimated at 7,981 tonnes from 7,947 tonnes in 2012 showing a rise of 0.4%

It was observed by Statistics Mauritius that as at end of June 2015, area under tea plantation

was 574 hectares representing a decrease of 14.6% over the figure of 672 hectares during the

107

same period of 2014. The production of green tea leaves went down by 22.4% from 4,498

tonnes in the first semester of 2014 to 3,492 tonnes in the first semester of 2015. This resulted

in a decrease in the production of manufactured tea by 24.8% from 890 tonnes to 669 tonnes.

The Ministry of Agro-industry and Food Security recently announced that measures will be

taken to boost up again this industry through:

(i) an infilling programme to improve output from existing area under tea cultivation.

(ii) the enhancement of the quality of tea manufactured in factories through better control of

the standard of green leaf and the manufacturing process with the aim of obtaining a better

finished product.

(iii) to develop an adequate marketing strategy for the improved product.

108

Economic Analysis


GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that is, those that are bought

by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time (say a quarter or a year). It

counts all of the output generated within the borders of a country.

20072008

20092010

20112012

20132014

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

Share in GDP (%)

Share in GDP (%)


The value added from the Tea Industry kept fluctuating over the period 2007 to 2014. In 2008,

value added rose by 14.1% reaching Rs 227 Mn. In 2009, same fell by 10.6% and stood at Rs 203

Mn. The sector revived in 2010, where value added moved up to Rs 213 Mn and kept increasing

up to Rs 236 Mn in 2011. However, the sector faced a downturn in 2012, where value added fell

by 7.6% and reached Rs 218 Mn. From 2013 to 2014, the Tea Industry rejuvenated with an

increase of 10.6% in value added reaching Rs 241 Mn.

Regarding the share of GDP of the sector compared to the economy’s GDP at basic prices, same

remained constant at 0.1% over the period 2007 to 2014. It is further noted that the industry

holds an insignificant size of the country’s income.

109

Factual Analysis

To assess the minimum wage in the tea industry in Mauritius, a sample of 3 establishments has

been selected which in fact represents the sector firm population as there are only 3 tea

factories in the country. Visits have been conducted by the technical team during the period 30

July to 05 August 2015 in these enterprises..

Demographics of Employees

Permanent v/s Contractual employment

Out of the 144 employees surveyed, 128 aver that they are permanent workers employed on a

full time basis, and 4 other permanent workers claim to be employed on a part time basis. It is

further found that 12 employees work on a contractual mode on a full time basis. The 12

contractual workers claim to have an average of 5 contracts with the same employer with an

average duration 9 months.

Gender and Age Distribution

From the sample of employees, 52.1% (75) are male employees and 47.9% (69) are female

workers. Further, on average, employees in this sector are found to be in the age group of 51

to 65 years. Detailed age distribution is illustrated as below.

110

This ageing labour force ion the tea sector can be explained by the fact that young potential

workers are reluctant to join the tea industry.

111

Length of service

On average the length of service in this sector is found to be 0 to 5 years with 54 employees

averring same. However, it is further noted that there are 40 employees having more than 20

years of service in this sector. A detail of present employment is illustrated in the chart below.

The survey also reveals that some employees even reckon up to 48 years of service with the

same employer. Survey reveals employees having up to 48 years of service with the same

employer.

Number of employees deriving a basic wage less than Rs 6,500 per month

According to the sample of the employers, 11.0% of the total number of workers in the tea

industry derives a monthly basic salary of less than Rs 6,500. Employers claim that such

employees are female packers and female factory workers.


The majority of employers is not agreeable that a minimum wage of Rs 6,500 per month be

fixed for the employees in this sector with no justification being given by employers to explain

their resistance to such a measure.

112

In order to analyse the basic salary of employees in the tea sector in Mauritius, the actual basic

salary of interviewed employees with different years of service and of different categories have

been averaged. As such it is found that on average employees in the sector derive a basic salary

of Rs 9,282 per month and on a daily basis, they derive on average Rs 357. Factory supervisor is

the category of employees deriving the highest salary of Rs 35,000 per month and the lowest

salary is drawn by field labourer (female) of Rs 6,109.

Earnings

According to employees surveyed, on average monthly earnings amount to Rs 9,965 in the tea

sector. Same is found to comprise of payments such as overtime and other allowances. A

breakdown of same is given in the table below.

Details Overtime

Payment

In a month

Meal

Allowance in a

month

Attendance

Bonus in a

month

Other

allowances

earned during a

month

Average (Rs) 1,352 300 365 1,231

Range (Rs) 140-350 300 100-510 50-6,237

No. of employees

earning

22 1 105 31

No. of employees

not earning

122 143 39 113

Other allowances earned by employees in the tea sector in Mauritius are found to be:

Sirdar Allowance

Housing Allowance

Incentive Bonus

Tea Leaf Plucking Allowance

Efficiency Allowance

113

PROPOSED WAGES

The second Schedule to the principal regulations is amended

(a) In paragraph 3(2)-

(i) In subparagraph (a), by deleting the figure “21.31” and replacing it by the figure “22.86”;

and

(ii) In subparagraph (a), by deleting the figure “20.39” and replacing it by the figure “21.94”;

(b) In paragraph 4, by revoking subparagraph (2) and replacing it by the following

subparagraph-

(2) Subject to subparagraph (3), every worker who plucks green leaves and does leveling off

shall be paid on the amount of leaves plucked by him at the following rate:-

Rates per

Kg

(Rs cs)

(a) up to 30 kgs 8.44

(b) over 30 kgs and up to 40 kgs 9.32

(c) over 40 kgs 9.50

Category of worker Wages

Monthly

(Rs)

Daily

(Rs cs)

GROUP A

Field Labourer (Male) 8,070 310.38

114

Field Labourer (Female) 6,924 266.31

Young person 6,500 250

Watchperson (Grade 2) 7,985 307.12

Sirdar or Gangman 8,731 335.81

GROUP B

Factory worker (Male) 8,070 310.38

Factory worker (Female) 6,924 266.31

Gardener 8,070 310.38

Factory supervisor 9,643 370.88

Messenger 8,090 311.15

Store Attendant 8,473 325.88

Laboratory

Attendant (Grade 1) 8,473 325.88

(Grade 2) 8,238 316.85

Sirdar or Gangman 8,731 335.81

115

Assistant Sirdar or Gangman 8,325 320.19

Turner, Fitter, Electrician,

Motor Mechanic, Welder,

Plumber and Pipe Fitter

(Grade1) 9,353 359.73

(Grade2) 9,042 347.77

(Grade3) 8,543 328.58

Carpenter and Stone mason (Grade1) 8,561 329.27

(Grade2) 8,352 321.23

(Grade3) 8,158 313.77

Factory Operator 8,473 325.88

Weigher (Grade1) 9,083 349.35

(Grade2) 8,519 327.65

Leaf Checker 8,465 325.58

Watchperson (Grade1) 8,320 320

(Grade2) 7,985 307.12

Driver (Grade1) 8,603 330.88

(Grade2) 8,405 323.27

116

Lorry Attendant / Lorry Helper 8,070 310.38

Factory Attendant 8,009 308.04

Boiler & Turbine Operator 9,456 363.69

le rapport du nrb dans son intégralité

Documents

respect of workers

category of workers

review of wages

review exercise

review proper

boards stand

light metal

time employment