SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL RIGHTS ARTICLE 15 - RIGHT T O WORK Every individual shall have the right to work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, and shall receive equal pay for equal work THE NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE 134. The National Minimum wage (NMW) was introduced in Mauritius on 27 December 2017 by way of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2017 (GN No. 1 of 2018), itself made under of the National Wage Consultative Council Act 2016. The said Regulations provide that the national minimum wage of every full-time worker shall be Rs 8,140 per month with effect from 01 January 2018. Part time-workers are entitled to same on a pro-rate basis. The objectives of the national minimum wage are, among others, to enhance and improve the standard of living and conditions of the lowest paid workers of this country. According to statistics, there were some 120,000 workers living below the poverty line prior to the introduction of the national minimum wage. 135. Additionally, with a view to enhancing the monthly income of those minimum-wage workers, Government has decided to further top up the National Minimum Wage with the introduction of a Special Allowance. Hence full-time employees who have joined employment after January 2019 deriving a monthly basic pay of less than Rs 9,000 are entitled to a Special Allowance to top-up their wage so that they can get at least Rs 9,000 monthly. Those who were in employment prior to January 2019 would be entitled to at least Rs 9,400 monthly. 136. Government makes it a point to ensure that Employers are complying with the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2017. For period February 2018 to end of March 2019, some 7,071 inspections were carried out to ensure compliance with provisions of the national minimum wage. It was observed that 6,749 undertakings inspected (95.45%) were complying with the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2017. Non-compliant employers were requested to take remedial actions regarding the payment of the national minimum wage. However, it was also observed that during the same period 4 cases were lodged at the Industrial Court for criminal action against those employers who have repeatedly failed to address the issue as required. 3 of them have been fined with cost to a total of Rs 8,800. One of the cases is coming for trial in January 2020. 84