The minimum wage (minimum wage) is used to regulate wages and calculate disability benefits, social benefits, as well as the calculation of fines and taxes.
As of September 1, 2012, the minimum wage is 4, 611 rubles. The last time in our country, this figure changed on June 1, 2011. The next increase in the minimum wage is planned for 2013.
It should be noted that in March 2012, at a meeting of the Russian tripartite commission involved in the regulation of social and labor relations, a proposal was made to increase the minimum wage to 6, 500 rubles over the course of this year. But it was supported only by the unions. The parties to the government and employers abandoned it because of too much spending obligations and difficulties with changing the size of the payroll planned for the year.
However, the government recently agreed to increase the minimum wage by 12.9% since January 2013. Now, employers will have to pay at least 5, 205 rubles to their employees.
It is impossible not to mention that the current minimum wage is a violation of Art. 133 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the minimum wage of an employee should not be lower than the subsistence level. The current value of this indicator is 6, 307 rubles, and even taking into account the increase in 2013, the minimum wage will be only 76% of it. However, to increase it, about 55 billion additional investments from the federal budget are needed.
Alexander Safonov, head of the Department of Labor Relations of the Ministry of Health and Social Development, believes that bringing the minimum wage level to the cost of living can lead to increased unemployment, especially in the agricultural sector. The need to pay employees a higher salary will negatively affect the profitability of enterprises, and they will have to reduce staff.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia disagrees with the new minimum wage. According to its chairman Mikhail Shmakov, the level of remuneration should not be less than 10, 000 rubles. He also proposes to establish such a payroll system that the salaries of company management do not exceed a certain level in comparison with the average salary of employees.
