(23 February 2016) – In the 22 EU Member States which have a statutory minimum wage, the level of this minimum wage varies greatly from one country to another. An article published by Eurofound provides information on statutory minimum wage levels in January 2016.
EurWORKSignificant discussions regarding the minimum wage in 2015 were about the level of the minimum wage that was in many cases perceived by the trade unions as too low.
Bulgaria and Romania have the lowest minimum wage in the EU, while Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage (€1922.96 per month) – about nine times the Bulgarian rate (€214 per month).
Between January 2015 and January 2016, the highest increases of the minimum wage (by more than 10%) took place in Bulgaria, Estonia and Lithuania. Romania plans a significant minimum wage increase (by 19%) in May 2016.
In Belgium and Greece, the minimum wage has remained unchanged since 2012.