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 indicator 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 dealing with the regulation of social and labor relations, a proposal was made to increase the minimum wage to 6,500 rubles during this year. But it was only supported by the trade unions. The sides of the government and employers abandoned it due to too large expenditure commitments and difficulties with changing the size of the wage bill planned for the year.
However, the government recently agreed to raise the minimum wage by 12.9% from January 2013. Now employers will have to pay their employees at least 5,205 rubles.
It should be mentioned that the current minimum wage is a violation of Art. 133 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the level of 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 to the subsistence level can lead to an increase in unemployment, primarily in agriculture. The need to pay workers higher wages will negatively affect the profitability of enterprises, and they will have to reduce their staff.
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia disagrees with the new minimum wage. According to its chairman, Mikhail Shmakov, the level of wages should be at least 10,000 rubles. He also proposes to establish such a payroll system so that the salaries of company management do not exceed a certain level in comparison with the average salary of employees of the enterprise.
