Pay against the RM1,700 monthly minimum wage.
Minimum wage check
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Daily minimum
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Hourly reference
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Shortfall
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What the floor actually is
Malaysia sets a national minimum wage by order under the National Wages Consultative Council Act, and it is enforced as a labour standard, not a tax rule. The figure this calculator uses is RM1,700 a month, the rate that took effect from 1 February 2025. For employers with fewer than five workers there was a short transition before the same floor applied, so very small businesses were not exempt for long. The Ministry of Human Resources publishes the binding order, and that is the source to confirm against, since the number is reviewed periodically and has stepped up several times over the past decade.
The monthly figure is the headline, but the law also expresses the floor on a daily and hourly basis so it can cover staff who are not on a fixed monthly salary. The daily rate is the monthly minimum divided by the number of working days in that month, which is why this tool asks how many days you work. Fewer working days in a month means a higher implied daily rate for the same RM1,700. The hourly reference the calculator shows, about RM8.72, comes from spreading RM1,700 across a conventional month of working hours.
Checking a RM1,600 salary against the floor
Take a full-time worker paid RM1,600 a month, working 26 days and 8 hours a day. Run those numbers and the tool flags a shortfall, because RM1,600 sits below the RM1,700 line the calculator applies.
| Measure | Value |
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The RM100 gap is what the employer would need to add each month to bring this worker up to the legal floor, RM1,200 over a full year. The daily figure of RM65.38 is the same RM1,700 split across 26 days, and it rises if the month has fewer working days. These are the figures this calculator applies; the binding rate is the one gazetted by the Ministry of Human Resources, so verify it for the period you are checking.
Where the floor bites and where it does not
This tool is for employees checking whether a job offer or a payslip clears the legal minimum, and for small employers sanity-checking their wage budget. A few edge cases trip people up. The minimum wage is about basic wages, so allowances, overtime, and bonuses are generally counted separately rather than used to top a low basic up to RM1,700. Genuine apprentices under a registered contract and certain domestic workers have historically sat outside the order, so do not assume universal coverage. And if you are paid by piece rate or commission, the employer still has to ensure your earnings work out to at least the minimum for the hours worked.
Reading a job offer with a sceptical eye
When a recruiter quotes a gross package, the number that matters for the legal floor is the basic salary, not the headline total. The basic is what gets measured against RM1,700, and it is also the figure that drives your EPF and SOCSO contributions, so a low basic dressed up with allowances quietly shrinks your retirement savings too.
The question to ask before you sign
Ask for the offer to be broken into basic plus each allowance. A package advertised as RM2,000 that turns out to be RM1,650 basic plus RM350 in fixed allowances is sitting below the floor on the figure that counts, even though the total looks comfortable.
Does the minimum wage apply to foreign workers?
Yes. The minimum wage order applies regardless of nationality, so a documented foreign worker is entitled to the same RM1,700 floor as a local employee in the same covered role. Confirm current scope with the Ministry of Human Resources, since enforcement details around levies and deductions are specific.
Is the daily rate always RM1,700 divided by 26?
Not necessarily. This calculator divides by the working days you enter, and 26 is a common convention. Your actual contract may use a different number of working days in a month, which changes the daily figure even though the monthly floor stays RM1,700.