F&B operators to keep a close eye on impact
Published on: Friday, July 01, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Most food and beverage operators in the city will keep a close eye on the impact of a new minimum wage which comes into effect today (Friday).The new minimum wage is set at RM920 per month for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, an increase of RM120 from the previous rate.Farish Aziz, who runs Haus Café, said he will not take any drastic measure yet as he will monitor the situation for the next two to three months.
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"As of now, I don't see a direct impact on my business if the minimum wage is set higher… but I can't speak for others as the effect differs."I will not increase the prices of the items sold in my outlet drastically as it still has to depend on the situation," he said.Yu Café's owner Stephanie Yu also opted to monitor the situation instead of doing drastic changes."So far, we can still manage to pay our staff. Plus, my employees' current salaries are more than the minimum wage set by the Government.
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"But surely there will be an impact with the increased rate. I don't want to change anything yet as everything involves cost."If the situation is unbearable, then I will do something about it…I may even have to lay off some of my employees.
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"I might consider taking part-timers as well where they will only work during peak hours," she said.BTC Bhd Group Managing Director Datuk Kadir M.E Sikkandar, who runs a few restaurants, said he fully supports the new rate set by the Government."At the same time, we understand why the Government has to increase the private sector employees' salaries from RM800 to RM920 per month. Although our operational expenses would be increased due to the implementation of the new minimum wage rate, the prices of our foods and drinks would not be raised unless the prices of goods continue to rise."However, we will spend prudently on our operational expenses and hope the Government will be business-friendly as well as find ways to help the food business community in Sabah to sustain their businesses following the call for business people to follow the minimum wage of RM920 per month for their respective workers," said Kadir, who is also the treasurer of the Malay Business Chamber of Commerce and Industry.Dr Chen Tai Ho, who runs Tavern Kitchen and Bar, said there will not be much effect on his business when the new minimum wage rate is introduced."We pay our staff quite well. We have started paying them a basic salary of RM920 even before it was implemented."And we hire people who can speak English, have good communication skills and some of them are even diploma or degree holders."Obviously we can't pay them too low. So we pay them slightly higher than the market rate," he said.According to Chen, the increased rate comes with pros and cons."On the positive side, people have more money to spend when the salary is higher. And when they spend, businesses will benefit from it."But, if the cost of running business is increased, then the impact will go down on consumers as well."Owner of Choice Restaurant, Mansor Ahmad, also took an early lead by raising his workers' basic salaries to RM900 per month since last year."As such, the implementation of the new minimum wage policy of RM920 for Sabah does not have much effect on my business."Nonetheless, I believe we have to follow the new minimum wage policy as it is a national policy that must be complied with."I admit that my business experienced less profit when I raised the salaries of my workers plus the traffic congestion near my restaurant at the airport flyover discourages customers to patronise my restaurant."Kathie Renjus Majimbun, who owns Shoney's Dining and Bar, foresees an increase in the prices of foods and drinks at her outlet if the situation worsens."This will be the same situation when the Government introduced GST (goods and services tax) where we did not straight away increase the prices of items."But eventually I have to increase them as all of the prices and taxes for goods, especially for alcohol products, were hiked," she said.She added they will not opt on cutting back the number of employees as "most of them have been working with us for a long time.""We will not be much affected salary-wise as we give them yearly increment as well."Maimunah Restaurant's owner, Razali Said, said he will consider raising the prices of foods and drinks in his eatery in order to gain some profit."For instance, if I have to raise the salary of a worker by RM100, then if I have 20 workers, I have to spend an extra RM2,000 per month and I have to take into consideration their overtime as well.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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