KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Labour and Social Security, Dr Fenton Ferguson, is to announce the new national minimum wage (NMW), as well as a new minimum for industrial security guards, when the House of Representatives meet this afternoon.

Dr Ferguson is also expected to make a statement in the House on certain amendments to the National Insurance Act.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has recommended an increase of 13 per cent, or $728 per week, which would take the NMW from the current $5,600 per 40-hour work week to $6,328 per week, or $158.20 per hour.

However, sources told OBSERVER ONLINE Monday that while the minimum wage could go as high as 13 per cent, the increase for industrial security guards is expected to between eight and ten per cent.

The NMW was last increased in January, 2014, from $5,600 per week or $140 per hour. The minimum wage for the industrial security guards was increased at the same time to a weekly $8,198 per week or $204.97 per hour.

 In a correspondence released yesterday, Dr Ferguson invited representatives of the industrial relations sector to attend today’s sitting of the House of Representatives to give him support in the activity.

The amendments to the National Insurance Act come in the wake of a recent audit report from the Auditor General, tabled last week, which disclosed that the NIS is at risk of failing because of poor governance contributing to the disbursement of billions in payments without checks to see if the right people were getting their pensions. There are also cases in which the NIS issued millions in overpayments.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has since issued a response that it has examined the report and is addressing some of the issues.

“The Ministry has been actively engaged in addressing findings in the report, by putting in place the appropriate measures and mechanism to resolve the concerns identified. The Ministry is far advanced in implementing these measures and mechanisms,” the Ministry’s release said.

Balford Henry