The Federal Government has revealed that the much expected implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage will be back-dated to July 2024.
The revelation was made by the Committee on Consequential Adjustments in Salaries for civil servants headed by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOSF), Didi Walson-Jack, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the committee has entered with Nigerian labour unions.
The committee also recommended that the initial wage award implemented by the government and was later stopped after three months be paid up to July 2024 when the new minimum wage will take-off.
Part of the MoU reads:
“The committee held four meetings and considered all presentations from the Federal Government and Trade Union sides. It also took into account the economic situation and the ability of the Federal Government to pay and sustain any consequential adjustment in salaries arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, as well as the effects on other employers.”
“The NSIWC will generate the appropriate salary templates for other consolidated salary structures for implementation; that the effective date of the implementation should be 29 July 2024; that the payment of the wage award issued via NS/WC Circular SWC.04/T/33 dated 19 October 2023 should continue to be paid until 27 July 2024;
“that the Federal Government should take appropriate measures to alleviate the plight of Federal workers as a result of the recent increase in PMS, including consideration of tax waivers and other incentives; and
“that the NSIWC, in collaboration with other stakeholders, should commence monitoring of the implementation in line with the provisions of the Act.”
The HOSF, Didi Walson-Jack, said that the committee considered current economic situation in the country before making the recommendations to the government.
The 16-member committee was established to develop the implementation template for the National Minimum Wage Act 2024, which raised the national minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 and to also negotiate the consequential adjustments in salaries in line with the minimum wage Act, 2024.