Gross wage increases by €67 per month and €3 per day for at least 600,000 employees. private sector who are either full-time or flexible, as they are the first to benefit directly from the 9.4% increase that minimal salary.

At the same time, of course, thousands of unemployed people who either receive unemployment benefits or participate in a special DYPA program also benefit. The die was cast and yesterday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after a brief collaboration with the competent Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, announced the creation new minimum wage which will come into force immediately, from April 1, 2023, at the rate of 780 euros per month from the current 713 euros and the minimum daily wage of 34.84 euros from 31.85 euros. Accordingly, the unemployment benefit, which is currently received by about 200,000 unemployed people, is also increased from 438 euros by the end of March to 479 euros.

It will take effect immediately on April 1.

For full-time workers who are paid the minimum wage, from April 1, the salary is 780 euros gross. Of course, if an employee worked before February 14, 2012, when the so-called three years were “frozen”, his minimum earnings can reach 1014 euros gross for a previous work experience of 9 or more years. If he also receives a marriage allowance, which is not provided for by law, but is “saved” by signing the General Collective Labor Agreement between GSEE and employers, then his maximum earnings can reach up to 1115 euros (including 14 monthly, that is, with the payment of Christmas and Easter gifts and vacations).

However, be careful. For everyone else, prior service increases remain “frozen” until annual unemployment falls below 10%, Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis explained yesterday. It should be noted that according to ELSTAT, in January last year, unemployment fell to 10.8%, but in the 2023 budget, the estimate of the economic headquarters is such that unemployment this year will be 12.7%, “freezing” any discussions to… unfreeze the three years.

Thus, for persons with work experience up to February 14, 2012, the minimum wage is set at 780 euros for length of service up to 3 years, 858 euros for length of service 3-6 years, 936 euros for length of service 6-9 years and 1014 Euro. euros for previous work experience of 9 years or more until February 2012. For those who receive a marriage allowance, the above minimum wage increases by 10% and amounts to 858, 936, 1014 and 1115 euros respectively.

Benefits

The increase in the minimum wage will also affect unemployment benefits, as well as a number of benefits paid out by DYPA. Today, the daily allowance is 17.51 ​​euros per day and 438 euros per month. With a wage increase of 9.4% from April 1, 2023, unemployment benefits will reach 479.17 euros.

At the same time, other allowances will also be increased as follows:

1. Special allowance for pregnancy and childbirth: 780 euros gross.

2. Child care allowance: 780 euros gross.

3. Termination of unemployment benefits: 13 daily allowances, i.e. 452.92 euros.

4. Allowance for a three-month stay on the unemployment register: 15 daily allowances, which is 552.6 euros.

5. Allowance for those released from prison: 15 daily allowances, 552.6 euros.

6. Work allowance: 20 daily allowances, 696.8 euros gross.

7. Insolvency of the employer: up to 3 salaries, which is 2340 euros in total.

8. Builder’s Season: 70% of 37 minimum daily wages, i.e. 902.35 euros.

9. Seasonal Sanders: 70% of the 50 lowest daily earnings, i.e. 1219.4 euros gross.

10. Seasonal allowance for artists, theaters, tourism: 70% of the 25 minimum daily wages, i.e. 609.7 euros.

11. Other seasonal (forest workers – resin collectors, tobacco workers, potters – ceramists – bricks and shipyard workers): 70% of the 35 minimum daily wages, i.e. 853.58 euros.

12. Assistance to the self-employed: unemployment benefit, ie. 479.17 euros.

13. Work allowance: 50% of the unemployment benefit, i.e. 239.58 euros.

14. EPAS student compensation: 75% of the minimum daily wage, €23.13.

15. Internship allowance (IEK DYPA): 80% of the minimum wage, 624 euros gross.

16. Gaining work experience: 780 euros gross.

17. Social programs: minimum daily wage 34.84 euros.

18. Employment programs: subsidy 50%-90% of the minimum wage, i.e. from 390 to 702 euros.

19. For working students participating in examinations: 30 minimum daily wages for students / 10 minimum daily wages for graduate students, which is 1045.2 euros and an additional 348.4 euros.

The tax authorities also “benefited” from the decision

The annual net earnings of minimum wage workers rise to €9,336, with Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis saying that this 9.4% monthly increase from 1 April is due to the increased needs of workers and is supported by the momentum that the economy has developed in the last four years.

This is a “significant and fair” increase, the minister assessed, noting that the decision was made by weighing, on the one hand, the debt to support workers, especially in the face of increased imported inflation, and, on the other hand, endurance. enterprises. It was preceded, of course, by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s report on a “bold increase”, the third in a row, so that the minimum wage from 650 euros in 2019 to 780 euros in April 2023, with which, however, as the prime minister characteristically stressed, ” our limits are running out.”

In detail, and according to data provided yesterday by Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis, the gross increase is 67 euros per month, with a net amount of about 57.7 euros, and the salary that goes into the pocket of the worker increases from 614.1 to 667 euros. Accordingly, of course, the total burden for the employer is 953.8 euros, with 872 euros increased by 81.8 euros. The state is also expected to “benefit” from this increase as, for the first time in many years, the minimum wage exceeds the tax-free limit and brings the annual tax closer to €70 for a taxpayer without children and €36.5 per year for a taxpayer. taxpayer with one child. Without tax, this would be the minimum wage for a taxpayer with two children.

On a twelve-month basis, the minimum wage reaches 910 euros from 832 euros today. With this increase, our country rises to 10th place (from 13th place it previously held) compared to European countries that have a statutory minimum wage.

Net fees (excluding contributions and taxes) are 667 euros instead of the current 548 euros. This means that every year the employee receives three salary increments compared to 2019. After the new increase, the minimum wage will increase by 20% compared to 2019, with an increase of three times GDP, as in the same period, GDP increased by 6.5%.

There were offers on the table from 5% to 12.4%

“We came here because the economy is holding up. And the economy is surviving because taxes and insurance premiums have been lowered, the licensing environment has been simplified, and a message of seriousness and trust has been sent to investors,” said Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, closing the presentation of the data based on what the government concluded that the minimum wage had been raised significantly by 9.4%. But until they reached the government apparatus to make a specific decision, given the political and social situation, there was a short but intensive process with consultations between experts, social partners and scientific bodies, as provided by law.

Because political times are tight, as the Tempi tragedy showed, the decision to raise the minimum wage took… a thousand waves to end up with 780 euros. At the beginning of the process, when bodies such as the Bank of Greece, IOBE and some employers’ organizations advocated a modest increase in economic personnel, as the strongest scenario they discussed was an increase in inflation close to 2022, i.e. 9.6%.

Within a few weeks, along with the scenarios for announcing elections on April 9, a very pre-election scenario of raising the minimum wage to 800 euros, that is, 12.4%, was laid on the table. The proposal was rejected, according to information, both by the most moderate of the economic cadres and by the European Union.

Thus, as a possible scenario, an increase corresponding to the allowance for pensioners, from 7.5% to 7.75%, was presented. After all, this is exactly what KEPE proposed in its report, which, of course, does not obligate you to anything. In fact, even in the past, the opinion of KEPE and the expert commission was not taken into account when making the relevant decisions.

And then there was the Tempi accident, which dramatically changed the political scene, rearranged priorities and put political pressure on the government to increase slightly more, but within the economy. “The new minimum wage will not be higher than 8,” Mr. Hatzidakis said a few days earlier, in an attempt to lower the bar of expectations as well as create the conditions for positive surprise in the process of yesterday’s announcement. .

Employers are positive, demanding further reductions in contributions

The increase in the minimum wage, announced yesterday by the Prime Minister, was welcomed by employers’ representatives positively, but with stars. Although everyone believes that this increase will contribute to the warming up of the market, at the same time they note that the definition of the minimum wage should return to the premorandum framework, i.e. be the result of negotiations between the social partners within the framework of a national collective bargaining agreement, rather than a central political decision, while there is also the question of further tax and insurance cuts.

“Now that high inflation has reduced incomes, the relative intervention to strengthen the disposable income of consumer workers is positive for the market. On the other hand, the government should also provide assistance to businesses, especially small and very small ones, where their operating costs have skyrocketed due to rising prices. In this context, measures are needed that will reduce the increased operating costs of enterprises (for example, the reduction of advance payments on income tax and the complete and unconditional elimination of trade duties), as well as measures to strengthen the liquidity of enterprises, in order to ultimately increase the minimum wage in the interests of both households and businesses”, supported by the General Confederation of Professional Artisans of Greece (GSEVEE). GSEVEE also requires the social partners to set the minimum wage so that the issue is not politically instrumental.

Raising the minimum wage is far from the demands of the poorest workers and does not allow them to cover the basic needs of life, the GSEE statement emphasizes and calls for the restoration of collective bargaining among the social partners.
“We agree with every decision that serves the social cohesion and the prospects of the country’s economy, without, of course, exhausting the stamina of the business world and especially small and medium-sized enterprises,” said the President of the National Confederation of Trade and Entrepreneur G. Karanikas, also demanding the abolition of sham fees and determination of the minimum wage by the social partners.

“SMEs with 5 people earning the minimum wage will have to pay an additional €5,726 annually,” the Athens Chamber of Commerce notes, demanding cuts in non-wage spending and tax burdens.