New plantation wage package favourable to workers

The Planters Association of Ceylon says the new plantation sector wage package has been adopted by Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), to be favourable to employees.

Addressing some misunderstandings on the new wage package, the Planters Association says the formal plantation sector, represented by the 23 RPCs, have by now fully implemented the new wage package. The Planters Association says the various components of the wage package is aimed at increasing productivity, while also being fair by employees.

The RPCs do not penalise workers unnecessarily. In fact, companies often make allowances for workers when calculating the wages. The new wage of Rs 405 per day is designed in such a way as to encourage and reward workers for better productivity, said Lalith Obeysekera, representing the Planters Association of Ceylon and the Plantation Services Group at the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC).

The new wage package, under the Collective Agreement of September 2009, increased the total daily wage of a plantation employee by almost 40 per cent, from Rs. 290 to Rs. 405. The package is made up of a Rs. 285 basic daily wage, a Rs 90 attendance incentive and a Rs 30 productivity incentive.

Employees qualify for the attendance incentive of Rs 90 per day, if they report to work for 75% of the work-days offered by the estate. Employees qualify for the Rs 30 per day productivity incentive, if they meet the daily plucking norm set by the estate.

Addressing some misconceptions, Malin Goonetilleke, Secretary General of the Planters Association says that in the formal plantation sector, workers are not unnecessarily penalised when wages are calculated.