Employers refuse the 700 CZK increase of minimum wage

At the meeting of the Council of Economic and Social Agreement hold on Thursday 4^th September, the Czech employers‘ organizations have rejected the governmental proposal to set the minimum wage at 9200 CZK. The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic and its partner organizations are giving green linght only to the original 500 CZK increase the previous tripartite meetings agreed on.

According to the original plan, the minimum wage should be raised from 8500 to 9000 CZK from January 2015.

„It is a clear breach of the agreement of the social partners,“ the Confederation‘s President Jaroslav Hanák said. „We demand that the government takes a more systematic approach to this problematics. We need a predictable business and tax environment.“

Czech employers warn that the increase will affect not only the employees receiving the minimum wage but also the people with a higher, so-called guaranteed wage which will influence the overall wage rate within the Czech companies.

They have pointed out that the minimum wage increase could cause problems with maintaining the present employment level in many companies.

The Confederation of Industry has highlighted the fact that the Czech government is preparing a series of measures to face the impact of the EU sanctions against Russia as the introduction of short time (kurzarbeit), but on the other hand, it wants to raise the minimum wage once more.