As much as 1162 euros can reach the salary of a married employee who has completed three 3-year terms with the increase of the minimum wage to 830 euros (+6.41% gross, 5.70% net) that will be applied from 1 April.
The new minimum wage of €830 gross corresponds to an annual income of €11,671.87 if we add the Christmas and Easter bonuses and the holiday allowance.
For this amount the employee pays an annual tax of €134.66, while the net amount he puts in his pocket on a 12 basis of calculation is €826.53 and €9,918.32 per year.
If we exclude gifts and allowances, the net salary for the employee amounts to 703,66€ per month. Cumulatively, the minimum wage has increased by 25% from €663 to €830 gross since 2019, after the lifting of the restrictive measures.
Labour Minister Domna Michailidou emphatically stated that we now have 3 new net wages per year for minimum wage workers compared to 2019, of +2,352 euros (+30.7%) since the annual net income of minimum wage workers was 7,658 euros in 2019, while in 2024 it exceeds 10,010 euros.
Benefit for employees with previous employment
The benefit for workers with previous experience is significant as those who have 3-6 years and belong to the one-three-year category on a 14-month basis will see 913 euros in their accounts, while on a 12-month basis they will see 1,065 euros.
Similarly, for 2 three-year terms on a 14-month basis and with 6-9 years the amount rises to 996 euros and on a 12-month basis it is 1,162 euros.
Finally, for those who belong to the category of three triennials on a 14-month basis, their salary will be 1,079 euros, while on a 12-month basis it will reach 1,259 euros.
The burden on businesses
At the same time, the company is charged €1189.46 per month and €14,273.53 per year on a 12-month calculation basis, while if gifts and allowances are not calculated, the employer pays €1,015.01 per month from €953 today.
According to the Athens Chamber of Crafts, for every employee paid the minimum wage, the company increases its expenditure by €62.90. A small and medium-sized enterprise with 5 people paid the minimum wage will have to pay an additional 4,403 euros annually.
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Average wages: The 560,000 employees paid at the minimum wage may get a breather with the increase to 830 euros that will apply from 1 April, but what about the 1.7 million employees (out of a total of 2,296,845) working in the private sector who receive a salary above 830 euros.
According to ERGANI data for 2023, average gross earnings increased by 8.57%, resulting in an average salary of around 1251 euros. The largest number of employees ,373,163 employees (16.25%) received an average of 1000-1200 euros per month in 2023, which is 93,276 more than in 2022.
Next in line is the wage of 901-1,000 euros, which 329,847 workers (14.36 %) received. However, 709,712 employees receive wages equal to or less than the minimum wage, while 284,134 are paid less than 500 euros, which means that they are employed on a part-time or rotational basis.
The number of employees reached 2,296,845 in 2023, 47,246 more than in 2022 (2,249,599). The majority of workers (262,634) work in enterprises employing 1-10 persons.
The sectors with the highest concentration of employees are retail trade (13.07%), food service activities (10.19%) and wholesale trade (9.46%).