Abstract:
Wages determine the living conditions of the workers and each government is responsible
for maintaining high living standards of its work force. In the Sri Lankan context,
government intervenes in determining the minimum wages of workers in selected trades
through a mechanism called Wages Boards
However, the existing minimum wage mechanism of Sri Lanka is highly critized by stake
holders. The research has designed to study the role of Wage Board mechanism and to
examine to what extent it protects the labour standards of the employees in Hotel and
Catering Trade in Sri Lanka. The main research methodology adopted for the research is
qualitative. To inquire the research problem both quantitative and qualitative data
collecting methods used to collect data. A questionnaire was mailed to the managers of
32 hotels and interviewed 10 personals, trade unionists views on the prevailing system
were observed and recorded at several wages board meetings. Secondary data were
collected from published and unpublished documents.
The finding of the study were discussed under characteristics of employment conditions
of hotel workers , major issues in the legislations and relates to minimum wage and
employment conditions of hotel workers, level of implementation and providing policy
guide lines.
My conclusion of the study states that the present wage board decisions and its
implementation of hotel industry very unlikely cater the needs of the industry and the
workers in the hotels. It's strongly recommended to revisit the mechanism and to
redevelop the employment conditions of workers in order to ensure a decent work
environment for respective workers.
