Minimum wage law

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Monday that "there is a certain degree of urgency" regarding the adoption of the decision to increase the minimum wage, specifying that it should be taken by the end of November, the beginning of December, at the latest, so that the business environment knows in time.

Income inequality in the EU continues to be substantial.

Bulgaria remains the country with the lowest gross minimum wage - 286 euros (560 leva), according to Eurostat data for January 2019. The highest minimum wage in the EU is received by the inhabitants of Luxembourg - 2071 euros.

The jobs market in Greece has seen a fresh increase in the share of flexible forms of labor, with more than one in three positions today comprising part-time or temporary employment with wages below 400 euros per month.

Ryanair will be investigated by two parliamentary committees after allegations about employee working conditions, including that the airline has been "trying to wriggle out" of paying its staff the national minimum wage./ the Guardian

While experts praise Macedonian parties for promising an increase in the minimum monthly wages as a social step in the right direction, they warn that promises of major hikes in average pay rates depend more on economic factors than on politicians' election-time promises.

Bulgaria ranks last in terms of income not only among EU member-states but also in the region, showed a survey of the Confederation of Independent Syndicates in Bulgaria (KNSB).

The nominal amount of the average monthly wage in Bulgaria of EUR 420 is about 5.5 times lower than the average levels for the EU, where it is EUR 2,293.

An independent panel of social security experts has proposed a new minimum salary of 527.40 euros for the first year at work and of 556.70 euros for the second.

This is an increase from the 511 euros that applies today for people aged up to 25 years old and represents the first time a link between the minimum wage and workers' experience has been proposed.

Turkey's private sector has started to make calculations as to how the government's pledged increase of the minimum wage will affect overheads.

The Bulgarian government has proposed for the minimum wage in the country to become between 35 % and 55 % of the average remuneration.

The cabinet has made the proposal to the employers' organisations and trade unions, daily Dnevnik informs.

This becomes clear from a statement of objection submitted by the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA).

By Roula Salourou

Greeks receiving the minimum wage will have to work for more than 60 hours per week in order to keep a three- or four-member family above the poverty level, according to a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the minimum salary in its member-states.