The Czech government is to decide on Wednesday whether to raise the minimum wage and guaranteed wages for next year. According to the proposed decree, the minimum wage is to rise by CZK 1,600 to CZK 18,900, or 9.2 percent, from January. Of the eight levels of guaranteed wages, which are paid according to the difficulty, responsibility and expertise of the work, four should be adjusted. The three lowest steps would be raised by CZK 1,600 and the highest step by CZK 3,200. According to Labour Minister Marian JureÄka (KDU-ÄSL), the change in guaranteed wages is intended to provide a raise for school cooks and school janitors. Trade unions have advocated a more significant increase in all amounts. According to employers, the minimum wage should grow at a slower pace than other earnings in the Czech Republic and guaranteed wages should be disconnected from it.
Last year’s EU directive on adequate minimum wages, which member states have two years to reflect in their regulations, recommends a minimum earnings level of 60 percent of the median gross wage or 50 percent of the average gross wage. The labour ministry initially proposed two options for the increase from January – either by 2,100 crowns or 1,600 crowns. The minimum wage would then gradually rise to either 50 percent of the average wage or 45 percent over the next few years. Last week, the tripartite discussed this, but did not agree. Labour Minister Marian JureÄka (KDU-ÄSL) then said he would submit a proposal with a lower amount to the cabinet.
According to the prepared regulation, the hourly minimum wage is to rise from CZK 103.80 to CZK 112.50 from January. This is a monthly increase from the current CZK 17,300 to CZK 18,900. A worker should have 16,442 crowns net. The lowest earnings should correspond to 41 percent of the average wage next year. Each year thereafter until 2028, the share should rise by one percentage point to 45 per cent of the average wage, according to the plan. It should remain at this level.
For the lowest guaranteed wage, the amounts and increases are the same as for the minimum wage. According to the regulation, the second tier would be adjusted from CZK 17,900 to CZK 19,500 from this year, the third tier from CZK 19,700 to CZK 21,300 and the eighth tier from CZK 34,600 to CZK 37,800 from January. JureÄka told a press conference last week that the increase in guaranteed wages is intended to provide “help and support” to lower-paid professions, such as school cooks, school janitors, social services workers and cultural workers.
Businesses are expected to see their wage costs rise by CZK 5.21 billion next year after the mandated increase, according to the labour ministry. Employers in the public sector should pay CZK 240 million more. The state should receive CZK 2.16 billion more in social and health levies.
Regular indexation and the form of guaranteed wages are to be regulated by a forthcoming amendment to the Labour Code. According to JureÄka, it should be adopted in the first half of next year and should be effective from 2025. The number of stages of guaranteed wages should be reduced from eight to four or five.
Source: CTK
