The launch of the increase in the interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) that the Minister of Labor will star in today, Yolanda Diazwill arrive this Wednesday without the approval of one part of the social dialogue, that of businessmen. Everything indicates that the CEOE will be contrary to the proposal to raise this indicator by 50 euros per month, up to 1,184 euros. The Government is going to choose to raise the SMI to the highest part of the range proposed by the committee of experts, with amounts starting from 38 euros more per month, an amount that has been discarded.
Both the employers and the Ministry of Labor itself admit that The agreement is “very complicated” under these circumstances. It would even be “strange”, some sources of social dialogue point out, given the disagreements on this matter between both parties. There is no obligation to negotiate the measure, only to inform the social agents. But after the continuous confrontations over the SMI, and also over the working day, businessmen will not be exactly comfortable in the decision that the minister will communicate to you this Wednesday.
With this new leap, employers will reject this measure because they consider that the economy is increasingly at risk of destroying jobs. They consider that the SMI includes more and more workers –17% of employees in Spain– and that these increases push to simultaneously raise salaries by agreement in those proportions; They warn that a minimum wage so close to the average will impact employment; and they point out that if this measure is combined with the proposed reduction of the working day to 37.5 hours per week, the cost borne by businesses will be disproportionate.
This impact can be seen, according to several business sources consulted, in the form of job loss. With a minimum salary that will be around 1,200 eurosthe gap with the median salary of 1,600 euros (which divides the population into two exact halves in terms of remuneration) is becoming less and less. The analyzes of employers maintain that as the gap between the minimum that a worker must earn and what is earned on average is reduced, the effects on employment will begin to be noticed. In fact, ATA has already warned that in the last five years 174,000 jobs have been destroyed in various sectors.
These calculations estimate that if the SMI rises by 4.4% (the expected 50 euros), the cost for businesses will be almost 2.3 billion. And if, in addition, the 37.5-hour day is implemented, that impact would be 21,000 million. Although everything seems to indicate that this reform will be weakened after the open war between Labor and the Economy.
80% more total cost
Business organizations also insist on the accumulated cost that business accounts will experience by having to incorporate the increase in contributions associated with the gross salary of the SMI. Cepyme remembers that has increased by 73% between 2016 and 2024 and, with the increase that the Government plans to propose for 2025, the accumulated increase will be 80.7% in that same period.
It also estimates that a minimum wage of 1,184 euros implies a cost of up to 1,900 euros for the company, having to include contributions, as well as the Equity Mechanism (the additional fee to cover pension expenses). That is to say, the 50 euros that will be announced today will actually become a total increase of up to 81 euros per month in total calculation.
#employers #refuse #raise #minimum #wage #today #due #risk #impact #employment
