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Tourism sector’s prorated wage system to end 

30 Jan 2022

The national tripartite agreement on the prorated wage model, which was exclusively extended for the stakeholders of the tourism sector from 30 June till 31 December 2021, is most likely to be terminated in 2022 as the tourism industry is back on track for its industry revival.  Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Commissioner General of Labour Prabath Chandrakeerthi stated that the final decision on the wage model had not been taken yet, as discussions amongst the relevant Government officials were still ongoing. “The agreement might not be extended as the tourism industry is now fully functional for international arrivals. However, the final decision is yet to be taken,” Chandrakeerthi asserted.  The proposal to extend the prorated wage model was submitted to the Cabinet by the task force of employers, employee trade union representatives, and officers of the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Labour with the objective of ensuring the continuity of jobs, considering the impact of the third Covid wave on Sri Lanka’s tourism sector. According to Ministry of Labour Secretary M.P.D.K. Mapa Pathirana, the concession was only applied to institutions that have been approved by the Commissioner General of Labour, following a request made by the particular tourism institution indicating its difficulties in paying employees their full salaries amidst deprived profit. Nevertheless, the employees of the tourist institutions that had converted their hotel spaces into quarantine centres during the pandemic period were not allowed to adhere to the Cabinet-approved concession, since these institutions obtained profit despite the worldwide aviation restrictions. The scheme implemented for prorated wage implies that the basic salary of employees will be apportioned and wages will be paid for the number of days the employee has worked. The wages for the day’s employees who are ‘benched’ without any work will be apportioned and paid at the rate of 50% of the basic wage of Rs. 14,500, under a proposal approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. The payments of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) also had to be contributed in line with the remuneration made. Additionally, to ascertain the daily wage for employees who reported to work, the basic salary is divided by 30 or 26 days, depending on the method of computation used to determine the daily wage at the respective establishment. This rate is then multiplied by the number of days worked in order to establish the pay for the same period. The total monthly salary to be paid is the total ‘pay for the days reported working’ and ‘pay for the days the employee did not report to work or was benched’. Thus, an employer unable to meet wage payments, as per the provisions of the agreement, was required to make representations to the Commissioner General of Labour. Meanwhile, according to statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), the country welcomed a record 31,688 tourists from 1 to 11 January this year, mainly from the Russian Federation, India and Ukraine. Moreover, with reference to the official SLTDA data, a total of 194,495 tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2021, a drop of 61.7% from 507,704 in 2020. Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) data showed that the country earned $ 82 million from tourism between January and October last year.  (YD)  


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