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18 May 2004
MADRID – The basic wage will rise to EUR 490 per month from the beginning of July, the Employment and Social Affairs Minister Jesús Caldera said Tuesday.
The basic legal wage that employers can pay workers will increase by 6.6 percent from EUR 460.
Caldera said the Socialist government planned to raise the basic wage still further to EUR 600 by the end of their term in office in 2008.
This was part of the electoral programme of the PSOE.
The minister said that the minimum wage will no longer be linked to people’s chances of getting scholarship, social security benefits or other state help.
But it will still be linked to the level of unemployment benefits.
This is going to be reviewed by a new indicator which is to be introduced.
Until now, the minimum wage was linked to ability to apply or receive educational scholarships, access to affordable housing and social service help.
Last Friday, the media reported that Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was going to raise the minimum wage this year.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news