The central committee with the authority to approve minimum daily wage hikes has deferred making a decision on proposed rises to its next meeting on Jan 17.
Jarin Chakkaphark, permanent secretary for labour and chairman of the wage committee, announced the deferral following a central wage committee meeting yesterday.
All he would say was that all provinces were assured of getting a rise this year. the government has declared previously it wants the panel to approve a rise.
After the committee reaches a a final decision on wage hikes on Jan 17, the proposals will be forwarded to the cabinet for final approval possibly on Jan 23, he said.
The minimum daily wage has remained the same for five years. The last nationwide rise was in 2012 when a single base rate of 300 baht was adopted during Yingluck Shinawatra's government.
However, rises have taken place since then to tackle poverty in certain provinces.Last year, eight provinces didn't get a wage rise at all whereas other provinces got rises ranging from 5 baht to 10 baht.
Before it decides on wage rises, the committee still needs to re-classify provinces based on various factors including their location, types of jobs and numbers of business operators offering these jobs, he said.
"This isn't a total revision of proposed wage hike figures but a review of which provinces should actually be put in which groups," Mr Jarin said.
Some provinces had proposed rises that are way too high such as Bung Kan in the Northeast, he said.
Asked to explain why the committee could not honour a Labour Ministry promise to announce the new minimum wage rates yesterday, Mr Jarin said it was better to make sure all the details were covered.
He said the committee thought rises of 2-15 baht were too low.
