Gov't proposes 3,700 lei minimum wage from 1 July 2024

The Government proposed to increase the minimum wage from 3,300 lei to 3,700 lei as of 1 July 2024, while employers proposed 3,500 lei from 1 July 2024 and 3,700 lei from 1 January 2025, and trade unions proposed an increase to 3,800 lei from 1 March 2024, National Council of SMEs President Florin Jianu said, at the end of the meeting of the National Tripartite Council, held under the coordination of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu."The proposals we made in agreement with the employers's associations, both the National Council of SMEs and Concordia, were that this increase in the minimum wage should be made in two stages, 3,500 lei from 1 July 2024 and 3,700 lei from 1 January 2025. The trade unions came up with a proposal for an increase to 3,800 lei and the Government came up with a proposal of 3,700 lei, namely from 3,300 lei to 3,700 lei from 1 July 2024. For the agri-food industry, the minimum wage for the economy should remain the same at 3,700 lei, and the minimum wage for the construction industry should not be increased, because they have a differentiated wage of 4,500 lei. So these were the proposals on the table. We will see what the Government's decision is, it is the Government's decision, not ours," said Florin Jianu.Moreover, he explained that the employers' associations asked that the tax exemption of 200 lei for those on the minimum wage should remain in force for the six months until the next minimum wage increase and be included in the next increase.Jianu also referred to the requests for funds for SMEs in next year's budget, mentioning a 12 percent increase in the budget for SMEs provided in the budget draft undergoing a decision transparency process these days.In his turn, Marius Sepi, representative of the Forta Legii National Trade Union, said that in addition to the proposal to increase the minimum wage to 3,800 lei from 1 July, they also came up with the proposal to reduce the salary income tax by 5%."We received the Government's offer of 3,700 lei, starting July, the trade union confederations' request was 3,800 lei, starting March. As a representative of the Meridian Confederation, I asked for something extra, 3,800 lei in March and a 5 percent reduction in the tax on all wages. This means a net 300 lei, at current values, for employees in Romania working on the minimum wage. Of course, the Government will decide what the agreed form will be. We do not accept the employers' offer of 3,500 and 3,700 lei, because the standard of living, as you all know, has dropped a lot in Romania," Sepi said.