Maruti Suzuki has hiked salaries of its workers by an average 75 percent or Rs 18,000 per month as part of the three-year wage settlement, which will catapult employees in its Gurgaon plant to the highest paid in the manufacturing sector in the country.

The hike in total salary benefits range from Rs.14,000 to Rs.22,000, a month, in line with the experience and seniority of the workers. This is apparently the highest ever hike in Maruti’s 30-year history. Besides the wage hike, MSI has doubled the medical benefits of the workers and increased the number of yearly scheduled holidays to 12. It has also agreed to reduce the probation period of new technicians by one year.

The wages would be implemented with effect from April 2012 and the workers would get the arrears in the October and November payouts.

SWorkers at the Manesar plant would have to wait a bit longer for the final agreement is yet to be worked out. The new salaries are likely to dent Maruti's profitability in short-term. Its manpower cost has jumped by a big margin in recent years. It increased 20 percent to Rs.844 crore in the last fiscal while in the January-March 2012 quarter, it went up 23 percent to Rs.256 crore. It increased by a higher 33 percent to Rs.238 crore in the quarter ended June.

Source: The Economic Times