Minimum wage rises to €14,000 per annum

MADRIDSpain has taken another step towards making minimum wage 60% of the average wage. The Spanish government will approve an increase to minimum wage, which will go up to €14,000 per annum. It will be retroactive, starting from January 1. This places the State in seventh position within the European Union table of highest minimum wage and leaves Bulgaria and Latvia as the only two EU countries which, for now, have not increased minimum wage in 2022.

This was announced on Wednesday by second vice president and Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who was accompanied by the leaders of the main unions, CCOO and UGT. The three signed the agreement which, however, has not been backed by employers.

On Tuesday, employers had already anticipated that they were once again rejecting an increase that they consider "indiscriminate". The governing bodies of Spanish employers' association CEOE voted "unanimously" against the increase which, on the other hand, has once again received the approval of the two main trade unions, CCOO and UGT. In fact, the measure is roughly double the increase unions had requested.

The Spanish government's proposal is in line with the report of the expert committee on minimum wage, which estimated an increase between €308 and €574 in 2022. in the end, the central government will increase current minimum wage by €490 per year, from €13,510 gross per annum (a 3.6% increase%).

This is the third increase in SMI that the Employment Minister Yolanda Díaz has approved since she is in the post. However, only the first increase, in February 2020 (up to €13,300 per year), had the backing of employers. Thus, since Pedro Sánchez has been in office, minimum wage has risen from €12,600 to €14,000 euros (11.11%).