 |
| Karimi Moughari |
The International Labour Organization and many labour economists believe ‘labour force’ should not be mentioned as a production input and the income of the workforce must not be set by the outcome of supply and demand in the labour market, because the welfare of human beings is the ultimate goal of economic growth and development. So, labour should not be regarded as a ‘commodity’.
Economic systems must guarantee living wages for decent work. Minimum wage legislation is one of a number of important mechanisms used to support workers against the risk of absolute poverty caused by market wages. While the goals associated with minimum wages are right and proper, minimum wages cannot be effective for most unemployed people who cannot survive without jobs and prefer to work with wages lower than the formal minimum rather than remain unemployed for a long time. Therefore, the existence of informal employment is inevitable, especially when unemployment is rising.
Iran has a long history of minimum wage legislation since 1946. However, despite the emphasis of the Labour Law, jobs with wages lower than the formal minimum have increased rapidly in small, medium and even large enterprises, especially over the past two decades. As Iran’s economy does not perform soundly and labour market institutions are not efficient, the Iranian government does not ensure the enforcement of the formal minimum wage. Therefore, low-paid jobs and informal employment is expanding.
