The EU minimum wage formula requires the minimum wage in an economy to be at least 50% of the gross average wage. The current gross average wage in Romania is RON8,500.
“The gross minimum guaranteed wage in the country will be updated every year depending on the purchasing power, overall level of wages and their distribution, the growth rate of wages and national work productivity. Making this minimum income adequate means the wage may not be lower than 50% of the gross average wage. The bill also means strengthening the role of trade unions and employer associations,” Labor Minister Simona Bucura-Oprescu said in press release issued by the institution.
An EU directive stipulates that EU member countries must set an “adequate minimum wage,” that can be determined in a transparent and predictable way by each member state in accordance with the social reality and national legislation. The European Parliament adopted the directive in 2022 and the member countries have two years since adoption to implement it.
The EU directive says that the adequate minimum wage must be 50% of the national gross average wage or 60% of the median wage. Since Romania does not have any median wage statistics, the government will look at the gross average wage.
The gross average wage is RON8,532 in Romania (April 2024 figures), according to the latest National Statistics Institute data. According to ZF’s calculations from the data, the adequate minimum wage under the EU rules should reach RON4,266 if set at 50%. Romanians earning minimum wage would get a net amount of a little more than RON2,500 per month.
Romania’s gross minimum wage goes up to RON3,700 or a little more than RON2,300 in net amount on July 1, as approved by the government.
There were almost 1.55 million minimum wage earners in Romania in January 2024.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)