Minimum wages in 2021: Most countries settle for cautious increase
Despite the unusually tough economic and labour market conditions, most EU Member States made nominal and real...
Salaire minimum
11 Février 2021
Le terme «salaire minimum» renvoie à diverses restrictions juridiques portant sur le montant minimal dû par l’employeur au travailleur. Le salaire minimum légal est régi par des actes législatifs officiels.
Mises à jour récentes
European Parliament exchange with Eurofound and EU agencies
On 1 February 202 at 16.45 – 18.45 CET, the Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social...
New impetus to collective bargaining: Insights from the ECS
In the context of the ongoing trend of a fall in collective bargaining coverage, and recent calls at EU level to...
Most EU Member States have a statutory national minimum wage in place, although its level, adjustment mechanisms and coverage vary. Some countries set collectively agreed minimum wages in sectoral agreements, while others have no statutory or formally agreed minimum wage mechanisms in place.
Read moreMost EU Member States have a statutory national minimum wage in place, although its level, adjustment mechanisms and coverage vary. Some countries set collectively agreed minimum wages in sectoral agreements, while others have no statutory or formally agreed minimum wage mechanisms in place.
The EU institutions jointly proclaimed the European Pillar of Social Rights in November 2017, setting out the EU’s commitment to fair wages for workers. This includes ensuring adequate minimum wages for workers to allow them to have a decent standard of living, safeguarding the ability of the low-skilled and young workers to find employment, while also making work financially attractive.
- European Commission: Towards a European Pillar of Social Rights
- European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights in 20 principles
Eurofound’s work
Eurofound provides regular updates on pay in the EU, including minimum wages in the Member States.
Key contributions
The 2017 update on minimum wages in Europe provides information on statutory minimum wage levels, how the minimum wage has been determined for 2017 and minimum wage coverage across the EU.
In a study on pay in Europe in the 21st century, Eurofound explored the implications of a hypothetical scenario of a minimum wage coordinated at EU level and set at 60% of the median national wage.
Featured: 2017 minimum wages in Europe
9 February - This article looks at minimum wage coverage across the EU in 2017, showing that 22 out of 28 EU Member States have a generally applicable statutory minimum wage in place. The level of this minimum wage varies greatly from one country to another. From the data, it can be seen that the minimum wage grew more over the year preceding 1 January 2017 than the year before.
Statutory minimum wages in the EU 2017
Data and resources
Read lessKey outputs over the years
Show more (12)
- Publications (142)
- Données
- Ongoing work (1)
Publications
Eurofound publications come in a variety of formats, including reports, policy briefs, blogs, articles and presentations.
Données
A selection of related data on this topic are linked below.
- Data: Statutory minimum wages: Minimum wages in the EU in 2020
- Data: Proportion of minimum wage workers who find it difficult to make ends meet, EU average
- Data: Minimum wage developments in real terms, 15 euro area countries, 2015 price levels
- Data: Proportion of minimum wage workers who find it difficult to make ends meet
- Database: COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch
- Database: Database of wages, working time and collective disputes
Ongoing work
Research continues in this topic on a variety of themes, which are outlined below with links to forthcoming titles.
Annual review of minimum wages
The Annual review of minimum wages 2021 is in preparation. It will examine the impacts of COVID-19 on minimum wage developments and setting. It will also discuss the perceptions of national decision-makers on minimum wages on the likely impact of the EU directive on their work.
Pilot project on minimum wages
Following a request from the European Parliament and decision from the European Commission, Eurofound will carry out a pilot project on minimum wages in the EU from 2021 to 2023. The purpose of this pilot project is to provide data and research evidence that will feed into the monitoring of the European Commission’s initiative on adequate minimum wages. The main objectives will be examined in three distinct modules:
- Module 1: Enforcement of minimum wages and compliance – providing a measurement of compliance with minimum wage regulation and discussing the methodological and policy issues related to this measurement
- Module 2: A database on minimum wage rates applicable to low-paid jobs – building a database on minimum wages in collective agreements
- Module 3: Minimum tariffs in collective agreements – to verify the presence of minimum tariffs for self-employed in collective agreements
MEMBER OF THE NETWORK OF EU AGENCIES
Eurofound est une agence de l’Union européenne