Portugal confirms minimum wage increase to 705 euros in 2022
In 2022, the minimum monthly wage in Portugal will be 705 euros. The country’s government approved the increase of 40 euros this Thursday (2) at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. AN proposal submitted was officially presented on November 16th to the body representing the country’s workers’ and employers’ unions.
According to the minister of Labor, Ana Mendes Godinho, the increase follows the government’s goal of reaching 750 euros in 2023. In the last six years, the minimum increase of 32%, from 505 euros to 665 euros.
“The government took into account the importance of raising the minimum wage in promoting more decent work and economic growth”, highlights an official statement. The change takes effect on January 1 of next year and should cover 880 thousand professionals, according to the minister.
Even with the addition of 40 euros, the value remains one of the lowest in Western Europe, according to data from the European Union Statistics Office (Eurostat, acronym in English). The country is in group two of the cabinet’s ranking, which includes countries where the minimum wage is above 500 euros, but still less than 1,000 euros a month.
Resources for businesses and strengthening unemployment insurance
At the same time, financial support for companies was announced, because of the “financial weight” that the increase represents for associations, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An amount will be paid to companies as a form of compensation for the increase in payroll. According to the government, the measure rule will be published “soon”, with values and rules to be followed by employers to receive financial support.
Another measure announced was the consolidation of the minimum amount for unemployment insurance, known in the country as “unemployment benefit”. In 2022, a minimum installment will be €509.45, an amount that was defined for workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Minister of Labor, 175 thousand professionals received the amount monthly this year.
The government also highlighted that there will be a 10% increase in the monthly installment when a couple with children are unemployed at the same time. The same amount is paid to single-parent families, of which 84.7% are headed by women, according to a survey available in the Contemporary Portugal Database.