KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Respondents reported smaller salary increments this year and their forecast for next year is just bleak, according to the outcome of the Malaysian Employers Federation’s (MEF) Salary Surveys for Executives and Non-Executives.

In a statement today, MEF President Tan Sri Azman Shah Haron said that 92.4% of respondents granted salary increment to executives compared with 94.3% in 2017, while it was 92.7% for non-executives (94.6% in 2017).

“The average salary increase for executives in 2018 was also lower at 4.88% (5.55% in 2017), and it was also lower for the non-executives at 4.88% (5.44% in 2017).

"The overall average forecast salary increase for executives in 2019 is 4.86% compared with 4.88% in 2018, while it is 4.89% in 2019 (4.88% in 2018) for non-executives.

“In terms of bonus, 78.2% of respondent companies granted bonus to all executives compared with 77.7% in 2017, and for non-executives it was 78.7% compared with 76.9% in 2017,” said Azman.

According to the survey, the average forecast bonus for 2019 also dipped for executives at 2.06 months compared with 2.18 months in 2018 but bonus for non-executive increased to 1.97 months, slightly higher than the 1.95 months of actual bonus in 2018.

Azman noted that the global economic slowdown, increasing social costs and political uncertainties following the 14th General Election were among factors influencing the employers’ cautious attitude.

The Surveys also included a section on Discrimination Reporting Procedure.

“More than 60% of the respondent companies have put in place procedures for reporting discrimination issues at their workplaces for executives as well as non-executives.

“It also showed that more than 88% of the companies indicated that their employees felt being valued with the implementation of anti-discrimination policy at the workplaces,” the statement said.

Other than the surveys, Azman also launched the MEF Fringe Benefits Survey 2018 and the MEF Analysis of Collective Agreements & Awards on Terms and Conditions of Employment 2017.