Minimum Wage
The national minimum wage is periodically set by the President of the Republic, as the Head of Executive Power, following consultations with representatives from employers' and workers' associations.
When establishing the minimum wage, Government considers the evolution of the national price index including the general national wage level as well as the social security benefits and the relative living standards of the social groups; worker’s quality of life and other economic factors, including the demands of economic development, the productivity levels and the necessity to reach and sustain a high level of employment. The determination of the minimum wage of part-time workers is based on the same formula used to set the hourly rate of payment of a full-time worker.
All full-time workers are covered by minimum wage regulations. Nevertheless, the government may exclude workers covered by a collective agreement signed within the 6 months preceding the issue of the Decree fixing the minimum wage. The legislation allows for a combination of national, regional and sectoral minimum wages. There are in practice different minimum wage rates for agriculture; transport, services and process industry; and commerce and extraction industry.
The Labour Inspectors are the authority in charge of ensuring compliance with minimum wage related provisions, as well as other labour law provisions.
Source: §241of the General Labour Law 2023 (No. 12/23 of 27 December 2023)
For updated minimum wage rates, please refer to the section on minimum wage.
Regular Pay
Wage consists of both the basic salary and any remuneration in kind, directly or indirectly paid in exchange of work. Wage can be fixed, variable or mixed. Fixed salary is the right to remuneration to the time spent doing work irrespective of the outcome. The salary is variable when remuneration or income refers to targets of work met by the worker in that period of time. The salary is mixed when formed by a fixed part and some other variable part.
The variable salary can assume, namely the modalities of salary for piecework and commission when it regards only the result of the work performed by the employee during the period considered, without regard to the time the worker spent on it; and salary for task, when it refers to an amount of product to be obtained in a determined period of time.
Some payments made by the employer to the worker are not considered to be wage or part of it. They are travel allowances and facilities, transport allowance, aporadic and voluntary gratuities that are not related to performance of work, family allowance and all other social security benefits or their accessories when paid by the employer. Unless proven otherwise, all payments made by an employer to a worker that are periodical and regular are presumed to be wage.
Before a worker starts a job, the employer must clearly inform them of the pay conditions in an easily understandable manner. This requirement also applies when pay conditions change due to law, collective agreements, career progression, or the employer's practices/internal labour regulations.
Wages must be paid in cash at workplace, but may be partially paid in kind, with the consent of the employee. The payment of wage in kind may not exceed 50% of the total. By agreement with the employee, payment is made in cash or (if provided for in internal regulation or collective agreement) by bank check, money order, bank transfer or deposit in the worker's current account. Salary is paid directly to the employee, or the person indicated by him in writing, leaving the worker able to freely dispose of the wages preventing the employer from limiting that freedom in any way. Payment of wage in vouchers, coupons, credit account, debt statements or any other substitute method of payment in current currency is prohibited. Payment of wages in illegal products or products that are contrary to public order and good customs is also prohibited.
Payment in kind is intended to satisfy personal needs of the worker or his family. Employees who are partially paid in kind may ask their employer to receive full payment in cash, doing so fifteen days before the due date of the next payment.
The employer is obliged to pay salaries every week, fortnight or month, and payment should be made until the last working day of the referring period, during work hours. The worker paid with an hourly or daily wage hired for a task of short duration, is paid for each day after completion of work. In case of work paid by the piece or task, the payment is made after completion of each part or task. When there is termination of employment contract, the salary, damages and other amounts owed to the worker whatever they refer to, are due within three days following the termination. Employees absent on the day of payment of wages can collect the amounts due on the following day, within the normal business hours.
Wages must be paid at the workplace or at the nearby payment services, unless agreed otherwise. If a different payment location is arranged, travel time to that location counts as work time. Salary payments cannot be made at establishments selling alcohol, gaming houses, or entertainment centers, except for employees of such establishments. When possible, payments should be made through the banking system.
Proof of payment is made by the worker to the employer by the means of a signed receipt for an individual worker, or a payroll, kept by the employer, identifying the employer, the worker's full name, number of social security beneficiary, the period that corresponds to the payment, discrimination of amounts paid, all discounts and deductions, as well as the total net amount paid. If the worker accuses the employer of not performing the payments and the employer can present neither the receipt or a payroll like the one mentioned above, then the allegations are presumed to be true. Whenever the payment record does not refer expressly to those forms that are not considered wage, the records it contains are presumed to refer to the payment of wages.
The employer cannot offset credits or make deductions from the employee's salary, except for legally required deductions (taxes, social security, union dues) and those explicitly authorized by the employee (goods/services, loans, advances).
Deductions cannot exceed 25% of the net salary. However, deductions or discounts cannot be made to the employer and his representatives for obtaining or maintaining employment.
Source: §235, 236, 239, 242-250 of the General Labour Law 2023 (No. 12/23 of 27 December 2023)
