Adequate minimum wages are of great importance for improving the living and working conditions of people in the EU. They are important tools to guarantee social and labour rights. Moreover, decent minimum wages are crucial to tackle in-work poverty and precarious employment conditions. The European Commission held an Open Consultation on minimum wages, to which we contributed. In our input we welcome that the EC has come up with a proposal for a Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages.
Adequate minimum wages should:
- be considered a basic social right for everybody;
- exist and be enforced in all sectors of the economy;
- be set in a non-discriminatory way;
- guarantee a decent standard of living and ensure people’s full participation in society in line with an active inclusion approach;
- be poverty-proof: the adequacy of minimum wages should be set at a minimum of 60% of the national median wage and 50% of the national average wage.
The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages should also contain provisions on the monitoring and assessment of minimum wage levels in Member States and whether they can indeed be considered adequate. Last but not least, the existence of and compliance with transparent and participatory procedures (involving the social partners) to set minimum wages is essential.Read our input Input – Annex