Romanian Government endorses minimum wage hike as of January 2019

Romania's Government in its December 7 meeting endorsed the order for increasing the minimum gross statutory wage from RON 1,900 per month currently to RON 2,080 starting January 2019. The minimum statutory wage was set at RON 2,350 for the employees serving in positions that require higher education and have an experience of at least one year in their area of higher education, local Hotnews.ro reported. Initially, the Government planned to include the employees with an experience of over 15 years (irrespective of their education) among those being entitled to minimum wage of RON 2,350, but decided to drop this measure. In the analysis supporting the order, the Government concluded that the move is estimated to have "a positive impact on the economic growth" as a result of "stimulating the employment rate, increasing households' incomes and curbing the black labor market". The higher minimum statutory wage will have no impact on the business climate, the Government claimed in the same document. Out of the 3.5 million employees in the private sector, more than 2.1 million (60%) receive the minimum statutory wage, which is the second-lowest national minimum wage in European Union, Ziarul Financiar informed in October 2018. Romanian Govt. postpones minimum wage increase editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Pixabay.com)