Today’s the day for setting next year’s minimum wage in Portugal – a salary that in the European scheme of things is pretty much in the middle. We have 11 countries with lower minimum wages ‘behind us’ and 10 in front. (Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Finland and Sweden do not have minimum wages.)
The Portuguese government’s plan is for an increase of €30, bringing the national minimum salary to €665, starting January 2021.
Explain reports, it is ‘preparing measures to compensate companies for the inherent increased charges’ they will suffer as a consequence.
The PS government has always said it’s ‘masterplan’ is to increase the national minimum wage to €750 by the end of its legislature (2023). The advent of the pandemic may well affect this goal as employers are already saying they can’t afford pay increases next year.
