From January to June of this year, the minimum wage was PLN 4,242 gross. From July, it is PLN 4,300 gross and this amount will apply until the end of 2024. From 2025, the minimum wage will be PLN 4,626 gross. This is an increase of PLN 326, or 7.6 percent compared to the current amount. The hourly rate will increase from PLN 28.21 to PLN 30.20. Let us recall that the minimum wage is linked to inflation and can be increased twice a year if the indicator exceeds 5 percent.
Minimum wage in Poland. We have already overtaken these EU countries
The minimum wage in Poland was examined by analysts from PKO BP. It turns out that the minimum wage in our country in July 2024 was EUR 998 and Poland ranked 10th among 22 EU countries with a national minimum wage. “We have overtaken Greece, Portugal and Malta, we are EUR 2 short of Cyprus. In Poland and Romania, the minimum wage increased the most (by 23% y/y), and an increase of at least 10% y/y was recorded in 9 EU countries,” experts report on social media.
As PKO BP analysts emphasize, Poland has recorded the fastest increase in the minimum wage expressed in euro among the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe in recent years. “Compared to the period immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in our country amounted to 63%. During this period, the minimum wage increased significantly,” we read in the analysis.
Experts add that the Polish minimum wage has reached almost half of the minimum wage in Germany. “For many years, the Polish minimum wage has been slowly approaching the German one, but over the past year this process has accelerated significantly. While in January 2015 the minimum wage for Polish employees was only 28 percent of the minimum wage for employees in Germany, and eight years later in January 2023 slightly above 37 percent, in July 2024 it will be significantly more, at 48.6 percent,” PKO BP analysts report.
Rising Minimum Wage: Many Companies Could Have a Big Problem
The rapidly growing minimum wage is also a big problem for entrepreneurs. , that many companies may simply not be able to bear it. – Another increase in the minimum wage, which from January next year is to amount to over PLN 4.6 thousand, will mean that many small companies will not be able to bear the costs and will close or suspend their operations – said Agnieszka Majewska. In turn, Łukasz Kozłowski, chief economist of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, that it is already visible how much the structure of wages in our country has flattened. – About 7-8 years ago, the minimum wage in Poland was earned by about 1.6 million people. Last year, it was already 3.6 million employees, and in 2024 it may be over 4 million – said the expert.
In May of this year, Donald Tusk visited Białystok and was asked by one of the entrepreneurs about the plans of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk would like the lowest wage in Poland to reach 60 percent of the national average. – Almost everyone knows that increasing the minimum wage indefinitely, such a mandatory one, resulting from government decisions, can be a serious problem for thousands of Polish companies. Especially small ones – and he added that “the minister has leftist sensitivity and would very much like to help everyone”.
Source: Gazeta
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