Government proposes minimum wage increase in 2020
The Government proposed in the social concertation that the minimum wage be set at 635 euros as of January 1.
Government proposed an increase in the national minimum wage (SMN) to 635 euros in 2020, according to the proposal delivered this Wednesday at the Social Dialogue meeting and sent to the media.
In this document, the Government proposes that “the value of the Guaranteed Minimum Monthly Wage be set at 635 euros from January 1, 2020” and suggests that “the impacts of updating” the minimum wage “be monitored regularly, in ways to be agreed with the social partners”.
In the meeting that is taking place this Wednesday with trade unions and employers, the Government also proposes a more comprehensive agreement with the social partners that goes beyond the minimum wage: “The Government proposes that a discussion be initiated immediately in the Permanent Commission for Social Dialogue with a view to reaching a medium-term agreement on wages, income and competitiveness, in articulation with priority issues such as the valorization of qualified young people, the conciliation of work, personal and family life and professional training.
The minimum wage increased last year to 600 euros, a figure agreed between most of the social partners. For next year, the Government now confirms that it wants a further increase of 35 euros. Last week, after listening to the social partners, the new Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, defended an “evolution as balanced as possible” of the national minimum wage.
According to the latest government data, the number of workers receiving the national minimum wage was 720,800 in September, a figure that fell 3.8% over the same month a year earlier. Between January and September, the minimum wage covered 20.1% of workers in Portugal.
