[EU] Minimum Wages Directive working according to trade unions

The deadline for member states to adopt the European Union’s Adequate Minimum Wages Directive is in November but Trade Union research has revealed that it is already having a positive effect on the minimum pay rates set in different countries, EU Reporter reports.

The findings are from an analysis carried out by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the independent research and training centre of the European Trade Union Confederation, which affiliates European trade unions into a single European umbrella organisation.

A new ETUI Policy Brief reportedly shows that the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive - even before its formal transposition into national law on November 15, 2024 - is having an impact on minimum wage setting in a range of EU Member States such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands.

The latest data - available from the beginning of the year - demonstrates a substantial nominal increase in statutory minimum wages in 15 out of the 22 EU countries in which the minimum wage is based on legislation (there is no statutory minimum wage in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden). 

This is reportedly down to two factors:

1. High levels of inflation still prevail across the EU, making the safeguarding of the purchasing power of minimum wage earners a political priority.
2. Many Member States already use the recently adopted Adequate Minimum Wage Directive’s ‘double decency threshold’ (defined as 60 per cent of the median wage and 50 per cent of the average wage).

At present Slovenia is the only country that meets this double decency threshold, demonstrating the need for further substantial minimum wage increases across the EU. However, the ETUI reportedly shows how this threshold is already influencing national minimum wage setting and political debates even before becoming national law.

The impact of the double decency threshold manifests in different ways, EU Reporter says, such as putting the 50 per cent of the average wage principle into Bulgarian law, the double threshold becoming a political guideline in Croatia, Cyprus setting the minimum wage at 60 per cent of the median and Ireland making a commitment to do the same.

In other countries, the Directive has informed national debate about the adequacy of existing minimum wages and providing the basis for unions’ campaigns to increase them.

Source: EU Reporter

The deadline for member states to adopt the European Union’s Adequate Minimum Wages Directive is in November but Trade Union research has revealed that it is already having a positive effect on the minimum pay rates set in different countries, EU Reporter reports.

The findings are from an analysis carried out by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the independent research and training centre of the European Trade Union Confederation, which affiliates European trade unions into a single European umbrella organisation.

A new ETUI Policy Brief reportedly shows that the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive - even before its formal transposition into national law on November 15, 2024 - is having an impact on minimum wage setting in a range of EU Member States such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands.

The latest data - available from the beginning of the year - demonstrates a substantial nominal increase in statutory minimum wages in 15 out of the 22 EU countries in which the minimum wage is based on legislation (there is no statutory minimum wage in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Sweden). 

This is reportedly down to two factors:

1. High levels of inflation still prevail across the EU, making the safeguarding of the purchasing power of minimum wage earners a political priority.
2. Many Member States already use the recently adopted Adequate Minimum Wage Directive’s ‘double decency threshold’ (defined as 60 per cent of the median wage and 50 per cent of the average wage).

At present Slovenia is the only country that meets this double decency threshold, demonstrating the need for further substantial minimum wage increases across the EU. However, the ETUI reportedly shows how this threshold is already influencing national minimum wage setting and political debates even before becoming national law.

The impact of the double decency threshold manifests in different ways, EU Reporter says, such as putting the 50 per cent of the average wage principle into Bulgarian law, the double threshold becoming a political guideline in Croatia, Cyprus setting the minimum wage at 60 per cent of the median and Ireland making a commitment to do the same.

In other countries, the Directive has informed national debate about the adequacy of existing minimum wages and providing the basis for unions’ campaigns to increase them.

Source: EU Reporter