CELSI Experts Marta Kahancová and Monika Martišková assessed proposed minimum wage changes and their impact on collective bargaining for Aktuality.sk

Representatives of the Association of Industrial Unions and Transport propose abolishing the six wage categories and replacing them with a single minimum wage, aiming to simplify companies’ wage policies. Trade unions warn that this change could lead to lower wages and weaken employees' bargaining power.

Experts from the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) point out that wage complexity levels are a unique system applied in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They agree with industry representatives that enforcing them in practice is highly challenging.

"For the state, it is a tool to moderate wage disparities. If the state gives up this instrument - however rarely applied - it is fair to ask what will replace it," said Monika Martišková and Marta Kahancová from CELSI. According to them, the state should focus on strengthening collective bargaining mechanisms.

Negotiation is the Better Path

"Strengthening collective bargaining, particularly at the sectoral level, could theoretically replace legislatively mandated wage complexity levels and reflect industry-specific characteristics," say the labor market researchers.

"In practice, however, both employers and trade unions must be incentivized to engage in such negotiations. One way to achieve this is for the state to place greater trust in social partners," Martišková and Kahancová add.

"For example, the current legal framework could be modified to allow for sector-specific wage regulation criteria based on job complexity at the industry level."

🔗 Read the article (in Slovak) here: https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/6KkKULa/priemyselnici-volaju-po-radikalnej-zmene-v-minimalnej-mzde-odborari-sa-vsak-boja-toho-najhorsieho/