The minimum wage in Greece will see an annual increase as of 2028 in accordance with inflation and the productivity of the country’s economy. This is part of a new wage adjustment system that will be reviewed on Thursday’s Cabinet meeting to secure approval and bring the related bill up for public consultation.
The new wage adjustment system follows Greece’s ratification of the European directive on adequate minimum wages.
Labor Minister, Niki Kerameus emphasizes that the new system will ensure job security as it explicitly prohibits any reduction of the minimum wage. The system will secure minimum wage adjustments that will be directly linked to actual economic data regarding the country’s economic growth.
For the first time, the adjustment system will include employees from the public sector, leading to a corresponding increase in their minimum wages.
The Labor Ministry’s goal is to establish a model for determining the minimum wage based on an objective, predictable, and transparent calculation method.
According to the European directive the aim is to expand collective bargaining coverage to include 80% of the workers.
The directive proposes an action plan that will promote wage negotiations, aiming to increase the number of workers covered by collective agreements, with social partners actively involved.
In Greece, collective bargaining coverage is very low, with only about 24% of Greek workers being covered by some form of sectoral agreement.
Additionally, there is considerable delay in extending these agreements across all businesses within a sector, which hinders their implementation.
Minister Kerameus has pledged to carry out a new round of discussions with social partners on enhancing sectoral agreements, affirming that the dialogue will continue as long as the bill is under parliamentary debate.
