Fiona Govan
THE Spanish government has proposed increasing the minimum salary to €13,944 a year, or €996 per month if paid in the traditional 14 installments.
The plan, which would add an extra €31 to minimum pay checks each month, was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister, Yolanda Diaz on Monday.
Diaz said the increase would be implemented as soon as possible and could be backdated to January 1, 2022.
She insisted that setting a minimum salary is a “very important tool” to help “the most vulnerable workers” in society.
The minimum annual salary for a full-time worker currently stands at €13,510 per annum or €965 when calculated in 14 monthly payments, a system that is a hangover from the Franco regime when workers were paid double an extra month at Christmas and in order to take a summer holiday.
Unions have been calling for the increase to reach the threshold of €1,000 per month, while employers are against the raise.
Diaz has explained the goal of the annual minimum salary reaching 60% of the average net salary of a full-time worker by 2023.
Spain’s minimum salary is far below that of neighbouring France which stands at €1,555 a month (when paid in 12 installments) and Germany which is slightly more at €1,585.
But it is still far above that of Portugal (€775) and Greece (€758)
