Minimum wage in Malaysia (2026): RM1,700 a month — and what you take home

Malaysia's minimum wage is RM1,700 a month. Since 1 August 2025 it applies to every employer nationwide — from large companies to a two-person shop — under the Minimum Wages Order 2024.

But RM1,700 is the gross figure. What actually reaches your bank account, after the compulsory deductions, is about RM1,501 a month. Here is the full rate, when it took effect, who it covers, and exactly how the gross becomes your take-home.

What actually lands in your account

Sources: EPF rate — EPF (KWSP); SOCSO and EIS — PERKESO. For an employee under 60.

The important thing most people miss: the biggest deduction isn't money you lose. The RM187 EPF is your own retirement savings — it goes into your EPF account, not to anyone else. The genuine "cost" deductions are SOCSO plus EIS, just RM11.55 a month — and even those buy you cover for workplace injury and job loss.

There's also no income tax (PCB) at this level. RM20,400 a year, less the RM9,000 personal relief and EPF, leaves chargeable income of about RM9,156. The tax on that is roughly RM41.56 — and the RM400 individual rebate (for chargeable income under RM35,000) wipes it out entirely.

The full rate

RM1,700 is the monthly figure. If you're paid hourly or daily, the minimum works out as:

Hourly and daily rates derive from RM1,700/month on a 45-hour normal work week (the statutory cap). Source: Minimum Wages Order 2024.

This is one national rate — the same across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The old regional split is gone.

Worth keeping in proportion: RM1,700 is the legal floor, not a typical wage. The median Malaysian earns RM2,793 a month — see salary in Malaysia for the full picture, and average salary in Malaysia for why the median beats the mean.

When it took effect

RM1,700 (up from RM1,500) was phased in:

• 1 February 2025 — employers with five or more employees, and employers in professional activities (classified under MASCO 2020).
• 1 August 2025 — everyone else, including employers with fewer than five staff, whose six-month deferment ended on 31 July 2025.

So today there is no size-based exemption left: full-time work in Malaysia must pay at least RM1,700 in basic wages.

If your employer pays below RM1,700

Paying under the minimum wage is an offence under the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 (Act 732), carrying a fine of up to RM10,000 per employee. If you're paid less than RM1,700 a month for full-time work, you can complain to the Department of Labour (JTKSM) under KESUMA — complaints can be made anonymously.

What we don't know

• Domestic workers have historically been excluded from minimum wage orders. We haven't been able to confirm the exact exclusion wording in the gazetted Order (the official PDF doesn't read cleanly), so we don't state it as settled.
• Gig workers, freelancers and the self-employed aren't "employees" under this law, so the minimum wage doesn't apply to them.
• Allowances, overtime and bonuses sit on top of RM1,700 — it's a floor on basic pay, not a cap on total earnings.
• Whether the government raises the rate again in 2026 — as of this update, no new order has been gazetted.