The two organizations said the evolution of the minimum wage must be correlated with the increase in productivity, on the one hand, and the labor market increase, on the other hand. They also said a sudden increase in the minimum wage would trigger, in the context of collective negotiations, a cascade increase of the payroll in its entirety. Moreover, it might trigger numerous job losses within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which will not be able to absorb the increase in real time.
The industry, the agriculture and the retail are among the most affected sectors, where labor costs weigh heavily in the global cost.
Labor Minister Ana Costea on Monday said the Romanian Government will make a decision regarding the minimum wage until December 31, 2015, adding a potential increase must be carefully analysed to avoid doing more harm than good. Costea explained that during talks with social partners last week, the initiative of increasing the minimum wage to RON1,200 from the current RON1,050 belonged to unionists.
Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said last week, after the final presentation of the 2016 state budget, that the government will have to make a decision regarding the minimum wage by the end of the year.