The current rate — RM1,700 monthly
The Minimum Wages Order 2024 sets the national minimum wage in Malaysia at RM1,700 per month, equivalent to RM8.72 per hour. Both figures are published on the Ministry of Human Resources' dedicated minimum wage portal (gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my), which cites the gazette number P.U.(A) 376/2024 for the underlying Warta. The Order raised the floor from RM1,500 under the previous Minimum Wages Order 2022.
Source: MOHR minimum wage portal (gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my), retrieved 2026-08-24. Rate and PUA number verified from portal display; the gazette PDF itself is linked from the portal. This page is a structural summary, not legal or HR advice — confirm your specific obligations with MOHR or a qualified HR/legal advisor before acting.
Phased effective dates: 1 February 2025 and 1 August 2025
Implementation of the Minimum Wages Order 2024 was phased by employer size:
- Employers with five or more employees: RM1,700 mandatory from 1 February 2025.
- Employers with fewer than five employees: RM1,700 mandatory from 1 August 2025.
By 2026 both phases are in force, meaning every Malaysian employer regardless of size must pay at least RM1,700 monthly to any employee within the Order's scope. The phased structure was a transition-period concession for micro-employers; it has now expired.
Source: Ministry of Human Resources media releases on Minimum Wages Order 2024 implementation (mohr.gov.my), read alongside gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my. The specific split-date wording lives in the gazetted PUA text; if you need the exact statutory language for an HR policy document, retrieve the gazette PDF from MOHR directly. Verified 2026-08-24.
Loaded cost, not just RM1,700 — the statutory add-ons
The minimum wage is the base salary floor. Total employer cost adds three statutory contributions on top:
- EPF (Employees Provident Fund). Employer contributes 13% for employees earning up to RM4,000 monthly (12% above that band), on top of the employee's 11% deduction. Reference: KWSP contribution schedule (kwsp.gov.my).
- SOCSO (PERKESO Social Security Organisation). Employer contributes to the Employment Injury Scheme and Invalidity Scheme per the SOCSO contribution table. Reference: perkeso.gov.my.
- EIS (Employment Insurance System). Employer contributes 0.2% of monthly wage. Reference: perkeso.gov.my.
Exact contribution figures are set by KWSP and PERKESO respectively and are updated by them; this page does not reproduce the contribution tables — always confirm current rates against the KWSP and PERKESO tables before running payroll or building an in-house hiring budget.
In-house marketing hire vs agency retainer — the honest comparison
For a Malaysian small business weighing an in-house marketing coordinator against an agency retainer, the RM1,700 figure is not the relevant number. Junior marketing roles — content writer, social media coordinator, community manager, junior media buyer — typically sit well above the statutory floor; the real question is total loaded cost versus agency retainer.
The loaded-cost side is: base salary + EPF employer contribution + SOCSO + EIS + HR/recruitment overhead + laptop/software/tools + eventual bonus and increment. The agency-retainer side is: monthly fee + ad spend management + reporting cadence. Neither is universally cheaper — it depends on hours needed, seniority required, and whether the work is production-heavy (in-house often wins) or strategy-heavy (agency often wins).
We publish typical Malaysian agency retainer bands on the shakalakaa pricing guide, and the fuller framing of the trade-off — including when to combine both — sits at in-house vs agency content creation in Malaysia. Rather than invent salary benchmarks for junior marketing roles here (Malaysian salary data is fragmented across MyStar, Talent Corp, Michael Page and Hays with different methodologies), we defer to those two published references and the social media marketing cost Malaysia resource.
Who is covered by the Minimum Wages Order 2024
The Minimum Wages Order 2024 applies to employees under a contract of service (contract of employment) as defined by the Employment Act 1955 and read with the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011. Coverage is broad but not universal — categories such as domestic employees are treated separately under the Employment Act. This page is a structural summary; for whether a specific role or contract type is within scope, confirm with MOHR or a qualified HR/legal advisor.
Gaji minimum Malaysia 2026 — panduan ringkas (BM)
Ringkasan Bahasa Malaysia bagi rakan perniagaan yang mencari gaji minimum malaysia 2026 atau perintah gaji minimum 2024. Kadar gaji minimum kebangsaan pada 2026 ialah RM1,700 sebulan (RM8.72 sejam), ditetapkan di bawah Perintah Gaji Minimum 2024 (P.U.(A) 376/2024) seperti yang diterbitkan di portal gaji minimum Kementerian Sumber Manusia. Kadar ini berkuat kuasa untuk majikan dengan lima pekerja atau lebih pada 1 Februari 2025, dan untuk majikan yang lebih kecil pada 1 Ogos 2025 — jadi menjelang 2026, kadar ini terpakai kepada semua majikan tanpa mengira saiz. Rujuk gajiminimum.mohr.gov.my untuk teks penuh; halaman ini bukan nasihat perundangan atau sumber manusia.
Related resources
See also: In-house vs agency content creation (Malaysia), shakalakaa pricing guide, What a marketing agency costs in Malaysia, SST on digital marketing in Malaysia.