State proposes minimum wage higher by 10% and increase of non-taxable salary components – Trade unions demanding 30%, employers offering 7.7%

The negotiations about increasing the minimum wage for 2025 ended without results today because the trade unions had demanded an increase by around 30%, whereas the state had offered 8-10%, and the employers only 7.7%.

The secretary of the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia, Zoran Mihajlovic, said that the representative of that union and the United Branch Trade Unions “Independence” had been “shocked” by the offer of the Ministry of Finance.

– We were shocked by the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to increase the minimum wage by eight to ten percent – Mihajlovic said for the Beta news agency following the meeting.

He said that the state’s proposal was “absolutely unacceptable” and that, with that increase, the minimum wage would amount to around RSD 51,000 and not cover even the costs of the minimal consumer basket, and the trade unions had demanded for it to be 60% of the average consumer basket, or RSD 61,800.

Mihajlovic said that they had asked the representatives of the state whether that meant giving up on the goal of having the minimum wage be EUR 650 in 2027 and that the answer was that it didn’t.

Mihajlovic said that the ministry had suggested to the employers not to reduce the contributions that year, as they had done before, but just the tax. This means that, if that proposal is adopted, the non-taxable components of the minimum wage would be increased.

The United Branch Trade Unions “Independence” said earlier that Serbia, as an EU candidate state, should harmonize its legislation with the EU legislation, directives and recommendations.

They said that the EU Directive “recommends for the minimum wage not to be lower than 60% of the average salary, and considering that there is a trend of the ‘growth’ of the average salary in Serbia, according to those in charge, it is entirely justified for the minimum wage to be higher than RSD 60,000 next year.”

The negotiations about the minimum wage start on August 15 each year for the next year and should be completed by September 15, and if no agreement is reached, the percentage of the increase of the minimum wage is set by the state.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Unija poslodavaca Srbije Beograd

UGS Nezavisnost Beograd

Asocijacija slobodnih i nezavisnih sindikata Beograd

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja Republike Srbije

Savez samostalnih sindikata Srbije

Government of Serbia

Serbian Association of Employers

Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia

United Branch Trade Unions Independence

Ministry of Finance of Serbia

Zoran Mihajlovic

minimum wage

minimum wage negotiations

minimum wage increase