The minimum wage commission, made up of representatives from unions, employer associations and academia, recommended that the minimum wage should be put up from its current rate of €8.84 an hour to €9.19 as of January 1st, 2019. They then recommended a further rise to €9.35 as of January 2020.
If the government accepts the recommendations – and the labour minister has said he will do so – they will be set in law later this year.
Despite hefty criticism from conservatives, the minimum wage was introduced at the beginning of 2015. In 2017, it was raised for the first time from €8.50 to €8.84.
When considering how to set the minimum wage, the commission considers factors such as employee rights, employment figures and economic competitiveness.
The minimum wage applies to everyone over the age of 18, with the exception of the long-term unemployed during their first six months of employment. It also does not apply to people in trainee positions or those doing internships of three months or less.
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