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Action against planters evading Rs. 1,000 

23 Jun 2021

  • Labour Department probing complaints against companies 

  • Employers Federation notified 

By Pamodi Waravita    The Labour Department will be initiating legal action against the plantation companies that have not adhered to the Wages Board decision to pay a Rs. 1,000 daily minimum wage to plantation workers, The Morning learnt.  Speaking to The Morning, Labour Commissioner General Prabath Chandrakeerthi said that he has instructed his Assistant Commissioners to investigate allegations that some plantation companies are not paying Rs. 1,000 as the minimum wage to their employees.  The Labour Ministry convened a Wages Board earlier this year, deciding that plantation companies must pay Rs. 1,000 as a minimum daily wage to the estate workers.  Chandrakeerthi further said that the Department has also informed the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) about the matter.  Reports of protests in estates have emerged over the past two weeks, where workers raised allegations of not being paid the Rs. 1,000 minimum daily wage and also of being forced to pluck 20 kilogrammes of tea leaves in exchange for more than three days of work.  Although the Planters’ Association requested a stay order on the gazette notification on the minimum daily wage, the Court of Appeal denied this.


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