Increase in Czechia's minimum monthly wage on the horizon

Marian Jurečka, the Labour and Social Affairs Minister, has proposed an increase to the monthly minimum wage in Czechia equal to 41 percent of the average national wage. The change would be implemented in January 2023.

At present, the current minimum wage per month is CZK 16,200. New data from the Czech Statistical Office shows that the average monthly wage in Czechia between April and June was CZK 40,086; 41 percent of that amount is CZK 16,435.

The proposed increase would be around just CZK 235 per month, based on these figures. The government forecasts slightly higher wages in the coming quarter, which would put the increase in the monthly minimum wage at CZK 350.

Trade unions in the country want a more significant rise, owing to the country’s soaring inflation, which surpassed 17 percent month-on-month in August and climbed over 18 percent in September. Employers, on their part, are reluctant about any sharp increase, pointing out their own existing expenditures.

Jurečka surmised that the government “must realize that it is not the cabinet but the employers who finance this. They need to have money for it. We have to be very cautious in order not to cause an increase in unemployment. The priority interest is to maintain the low unemployment rate,” ČTK reports. At 3.5 percent, Czechia currently has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU.

The Labor and Social Affairs Minister encourages trade unions and employers to negotiate together for a higher wage increase. Afterward, Jurečka noted, the government could further discuss the increase.