In April 2012, the newly elected president Vladimir Putin promised that in 2013 the minimum wage would still catch up with the subsistence minimum. However, not so long ago it became clear that it is too early to rejoice.
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation has article number 133. It clearly states that the minimum wage (minimum wage) is established by federal law throughout the country and cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum, the amount of which is regularly recalculated. Nevertheless, there is a contradiction in the same law, which is a loophole - Article 421 states that the procedure and terms for a gradual increase in the minimum wage to the amount provided for in the first part of Article 133 of this Code are established by federal law. And the state is successfully using this loophole - it turns out that the minimum wage can be set at a level below the subsistence level, and the Ministry of Finance will decide for itself when to equalize them.
Since January 2013, the minimum wage will increase again and amount to 5205 rubles. But the problem is that spending on social development hardly increases, which means that the budget will not be able to cover the existing difference between the subsistence minimum and the minimum wage. The new minimum wage will be only 76% of the subsistence minimum, which, in theory, is a violation of the labor legislation of the Russian Federation. However, this violation has been committed for many years.
Over the past 12 years, the minimum wage has grown 30 times, but has not yet reached the amount that could really provide a normal living for people in low-paid professions.
Experts note that the numbers are disappointing. More than 13% of Russians have wages below the subsistence level. In Europe, there are standards according to which the minimum wage must be at least 60% of the average wage in the country. If such standards worked in Russia, the minimum wage would be about 16,000 rubles. However, such amounts for the state remain exorbitant.
