Serbian minimum wage: Under one euro per hour

Serbian minimum wage: Under one euro per hour

BELGRADE -- Serbia's net minimum wage - deducting taxes and contributions for mandatory social insurance - will be RSD 115 per hour from July until December.

The Serbian government made the decision on Friday.

On July 18, RSD 115 equaled EUR 0.98. The minimum wage has not changed in Serbia for the past two years, and is the lowest legally guaranteed wage anywhere in the world.

Bulgaria and Romania are not far ahead, guaranteeing at least EUR 1.04 and 1.14 per hour, respectively. Brazil, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Czech Republic follow with 1.15, 1.76, 1.93, and 1.95, the Belgrade daily Danas reported recently.

Workers in Australia can count on the highest guaranteed minimum wage of EUR 11.88 per hour. In the U.S., the figure is USD 10.1, while many countries, including Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, do not have legislation regulating this figure.

Also on Friday, the Serbian government decided to grant health-care insurance for over 26,000 employees in restructuring companies and those in underdeveloped areas who do not hold valid health-care cards.

The government also adopted the law to ratify the agreement between the Serbian government and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on passenger transport and transport of goods in international road traffic.

The government also adopted the law to ratify the original convention on the foundation of a European centre for mid-term weather forecast, the Serbian government's media office said.