The new minimum statutory wage in Greece

Βy virtue of Decision No. 38866/21.4.2022 of the Ministry of Labour, as of 1 May 2022, the statutory minimum monthly wage and the statutory minimum daily wage were increased and determined, for employees and blue-collar workers employed on a full-time basis, without age distinction, as follows:

1. For employees, the new gross monthly minimum wage is set at €713.00.
2. For manual workers, the new gross minimum daily wage is set at €31.85.

This new increase of 7.5% is in addition to the one already granted as of 1 January 2022, resulting in an increase of 9.7% or €63 per month within 2022.

Furthermore, depending on the years of service completed by the employee before 14 February 2012, the minimum monthly wage and the minimum daily wage are increased by up to 30%. Therefore, the monthly gross minimum monthly wage for employees with three years of service can be up to €213 higher (€713 + 30%). In other words, the minimum wage in this case can be €926 plus Christmas and Easter bonus and holiday pay.

In particular, for employees with 3 to 6 years of experience, the gross monthly wage is set at €784.3, from 6 to 9 years at €855.6, and for employees with more than 9 years’ experience the wage is €926.9.

The increase in the minimum wage also leads to an increase in the unemployment benefit, as the daily benefit and the monthly benefit are adapted to €17.51 and €438 respectively, compared to €16.29 and €407.25 respectively before 1st May 2022. Several allowances and benefits based on the minimum wage or daily wage are also adjusted. These include, inter alia, the unemployment allowance for self-employed persons, the monthly wage for new job placement schemes, the special end-of-unemployment benefit, the unemployment benefit due to retrenchment, special seasonal benefits for employees in the tourism and catering sector, for construction workers, forestry workers, etc, the special maternity benefit, the parental leave allowance, the unpaid wages due to the insolvency of the employer, the benefit for those placed in mere availability to work, the compensation for students in the Professional Apprenticeship Schools (EPAS) of the Manpower Unemployment Organization (OAED), the compensation for work experience programs, etc. At the same time, the increase of the minimum wage increases the plafond on the severance pay for high-paid employees, since now the monthly gross salary on the basis of which the severance pay will be calculated, if employers opt to use the plafond for its calculation, will amount to 7,644 euros/month gross . In the same way, the salary criteria according to which a person is presumed to be a managerial employee are also increased, since according to the Ministerial Decision, a person is considered as a managerial employee, among others, if s/he is paid at least six times the minimum wage.

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