Minimum wage in Poland

The government has decided to Raise The Minimum Wage In 2019. Next year, it should be 2250 zlotys gross, and the minimum hourly rate is set at 14.7 zlotys gross. What could be the consequences of this decision? Is the minimum wage growing at an appropriate Pace? The increase was announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki himself. Although the increase in the minimum wage is not a surprise in itself, the scale of the increase (+150 zlotys gross compared to the current year) is already there. We decided at the Council of Ministers to recommend a higher minimum wage than originally planned .

The schedule of wage increases

This is also a symbol of the fact that we want the Polish economy to rely on development not on low wages, but on wage growth, " the Prime Minister explained. Since the economy fell during the quarantine,it is worth noting that online platforms have risen a step higher.Those who are interested in the IT field know that you can raise your income, and thanks to deltamarket.net it is easy and affordable to do so .The minimum monthly wage rate of 2250 zlotys gross means an increase of more than 7% compared to the current lowest wage (2100 zlotys gross). The minimum hourly rate will also increase from 13.7 zlotys to 14.7 zlotys gross.

The unions wanted more

The rationale for raising the minimum wage can be found in the report of the Government Information Center (CIR). we read there: the current economic situation does not allow us to balance the increase in the minimum wage, commensurate with the dynamics of economic growth and productivity growth and a decrease in unemployment. back in june, the government was inclined to set the minimum wage at 2,200 rubles. why the changes?

It is known that trade unions demanded a significant increase. solidarity wanted a minimum of 2,278 rubles, then lowered its expectations slightly (to 2,255 rubles). Much further went OPZZ, which offered 2383 rubles. The final decision of the government was called by the head of Solidarity, Petr Duda,"a compromise that does not suit us, but is acceptable." At the same time, he added that in the end, the minimum wage should be formed at the level of 50% of the average wage (now it is 47.3%).

Consequences of the increase

Quite quickly after the announcement of the increase, there were voices that this could mean problems for some people receiving the 500 plus allowance. In the case of establishing rights to the first child benefit, the income criterion is taken into account. Imagine a situation where a single parent raises one child and earns 2250 zlotys gross, or just over 1600 zlotys net. in this case, the net income per person slightly exceeds 800 zlotys, that is, the threshold for the right to receive benefits for the first child. In theory, parents may face such a problem in 2020, when they will have to demonstrate income for 2019-of course, provided that the government does not raise the mentioned income threshold by then.

The natural consequence of raising the minimum wage is a simultaneous increase in the amount of benefits that are associated with it by law, m.in. sickness benefit or night work allowance. The income limit that entrepreneurs using the so-called small ZUS will be able to reach will also increase by almost 400 zlotys. According to the draft law, individuals engaged in individual business activities, whose monthly income does not exceed 2.5 times the minimum wage, pay lower contributions.

Employers traditionally opposed to

It is not surprising that the announced increase in the minimum wage have met opposition from employers. The government's decision was criticized by Jeremy Mordasewicz of the Confederation of Leviathan. In his opinion, although the current situation will allow employers to cope with the increase, in the event of an economic downturn, they may have problems with increasing the minimum wage at this rate. In addition, there is a fairly obvious argument about the risk of losing their jobs to the least skilled workers.

Moreover, constant increases do not go hand in hand with increased productivity and productivity. as rzeczpospolita recently reported, citing an analysis by the civil development forum foundation, 26% of polish workers earn half of our gdp. this means that only 5.6 million poles work effectively. the result of insufficient wages to labor productivity may be a decrease in the competitiveness of polish products.

Another disadvantage of the predetermined minimum wage is that it operates throughout the country, without taking into account the specifics of the labor market in its individual regions.