The minimum gross salary per country increases to 3700 lei

The government decided yesterday to increase the minimum gross salary per country from the current 3300 lei to 3700 lei from July 1, 2024, which represents an increase of 12.12% compared to June. Thus, if in June the hourly rate is 19.96 lei/hour for a full work schedule of 165.33 hours per month, from July 2024 the hourly rate will be 22.024 lei/hour for a full work schedule of 168 hours/month.

Regarding the measure taken by the Government, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared: "It is a measure agreed with the social dialogue partners, which benefits over 1.8 million employees in Romania. Also, at the request of the business environment, we approved the increase from 200 lei to 300 lei of the untaxed monthly amount. Basically, employees receive an additional 284 lei per month. Thus, we are taking an important step to get closer to the level required by the European minimum wage directive. The Ministry of Labor and the social partners are already working on the mechanism that will introduce the European minimum wage in Romania by November. The established formula will take into account the purchasing power, the level of the gross average salary and labor productivity".

According to the note implementing the government decision, at this moment 760,000 employees benefit from the guaranteed minimum gross salary in payment, which represents a percentage of 13.9% of the total number of active employees. 1,871,266 employees will benefit from the increase of the gross minimum basic salary per country guaranteed in payment to 3,700 lei. Government officials claim that the new increase in the gross minimum wage will have positive effects on economic growth by stimulating employment, increasing the purchasing power of employees and reducing black labor and will have an impact on the growth of consumption with an influence on the import of consumer goods .

In the cited document it is stated: "The increase in the minimum wage can have positive effects on employment in sectors where there is a demand for labor due to the fact that work becomes more attractive for certain categories of employees (women, young people, etc.). The increase in the gross minimum basic salary in the country influences, in addition to the 1,871,266 directly affected employees, many more rights and obligations, such as:

- the change in the gross minimum basic salary per country determines the increase in the contribution for disabled persons who are not classified as this calculation is related to the minimum salary (Law no. 448/2006 art. 78 paragraph (3));

- the change in the gross minimum basic salary per country determines the increase of the fine point as it is related to the minimum salary (Government Emergency Ordinance no. 195/2002 regarding traffic on public roads, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions - art. 98) ".

Government officials also state that the minimum wage increase measure affects multiple sectors of activity such as trade, transport and small and medium enterprises where the level of wages is lower than the average, the increase will have an impact on the increase in labor costs.

In addition to the increase in the value of the minimum gross salary, the Government increased in yesterday's meeting, by 2.5 billion lei, the IMM Plus state aid scheme, which thus reaches a total ceiling of 15 billion lei. 2,300 new companies will benefit from the amount allocated yesterday, compared to the 11,500 initially financed through IMM Plus.