Egypt frames new plan for wage restructuring

New comprehensive reform plans to restructure the wage system in Egypt to be under way within 3 to 5 years, said Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Ashraf Al-Araby.

The reform plans currently prepared by the Planning Ministry aim to restructure the wage system as well as fix a minimum and maximum wage.

Moreover, the minister stated that the restructuring of wages in Egypt is witnessing sheer imbalances that badly needed to be redressed as an essential preliminary to achieving social justice in the North African country.

Al-Araby also said his ministry will announce soon what has been reached so far with Ministry of Manpower as regards to the minimum wage for private-sector employees.

Fixing a minimum and a maximum wage in Egypt is a popular demand. In 2009, a court ruled that the government must set a minimum wage compatible with costs of living after the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), an NGO, filed a case with the Administrative Court demanding a minimum wage be set at EGP 1200.