Proposed Amendment to Mandate Service Charge Payment in USD

An amendment to the Employment Act has been proposed to ensure that service charges in the tourism industry are paid in U.S. Dollars rather than being converted to Maldivian Rufiyaa. The amendment, submitted by Mauroof Zakir of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), aims to guarantee that employees directly involved in providing services to tourists receive their rightful share of service charges without currency conversion. Currently, some tourism businesses convert foreign currency-denominated service charges to MVR before distribution, which diminishes the value of the payments. The proposed amendment also mandates that there should be no discrimination in the distribution of service charges, regardless of employment status or whether employees are hired through third parties. This move seeks to uphold the rights of tourism sector workers as per the Employment Act.