Minimum wage

Tax exempting the minimum wage could be a solution for keeping the workforce in the country, and such measure will start on January 1, 2022 in a private sector, which could be the hospitality industry, Minister of the Economy Claudiu Nasui told a news conference on Wednesday. "The labour shortage has been an old problem of Romania, before the pandemic.

Our life was better before the coronavirus pandemic, although incomes were low, says a popular Bulgarian musician. We work less now, but we have to pay our water and electricity bills every month. Food prices went up and the price of some food essentials has doubled, says the musician.

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria insist that in 2022  minimum wage in the country should amount to BGN 764 and the average to be BGN 1,729.

One third of employees from the private sector of Romania benefit from minimum wage, declared, on Wednesday evening, for the private broadcaster Romania TV, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu. He manifested his concern that 1,700,000 Romanians are currently paid the minimum wage, and when they will retire they will have small pensions.

Prime Minister Florin Citu stated on Tuesday that a decision regarding an eventual increase of the minimum wage may be taken only following discussions with entrepreneurs and unions, remarking at the same time that in the past years, in Romania, there has been a "larger dynamic" of growth. "It's a three-part discussion and we will see what the evolution of the minimum wage is.

Member States will hopefully reach a common position on the definition of EU minimum wages before the end of Portugal's presidency of the Council, which runs until June, European Commissioner for employment, Nicolas Schmit, told Lusa.pt, highlighting the "efforts" made by Portugal to that end.

Oliver Röpke is the president of the Workers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Australia has the highest minimum wage

Ljubljana – Four business chambers or associations associated in an Economic Circle initiative urged the government to be more ambitious in its debureaucratisation drive and lower the planned social security cap, as they presented a number of ideas for a lean state at an online news conference on Wednesday.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has urged the government to create employment for nearly 10 million unemployed people in Turkey, warning that this population could be a source of social problems over time.