On Monday, Élisabeth Borne gave until June 1 to professional branches with minimum wages below the minimum wage to make "significant progress", threatening to pass a "law" if not. Given that the minimum wage rises faster (with inflation, to which it is indexed) than the rest of wages, some sectoral minima are being caught up, generating a "squeeze" in wages, denounced by the unions.
To discover
- Download the Le Figaro app: the news at the heart of your day
In this regard, the Ministry of Labour will "soon" receive all the branches with minimum wages below the minimum wage "so that they can explain their delay" and "we will make known the list of these branches in the coming weeks", said the Prime Minister at the end of the social conference. And "if we do not see significant progress by June 1, 2024, the government will propose to Parliament a law that will allow exemptions to be calculated, not on the basis of the minimum wage, but on the basis of the branch minimum," the head of government warned.
Read alsoInflation reinforces low-wage trap mechanisms
'Settling'
However, companies in these sectors that already have wage scales in line with the minimum wage "will not be affected", she said. The Medef, representing the employers, had pointed out that "sanctioning a company that is up to date in terms of salary, on the grounds that its branch is not up to date, is legally impossible".
«
Today, 10 sectors have minimum wages that are permanently below the minimum wage," according to Élisabeth Borne. "Certainly, there have been improvements in recent years, but the situation remains unsatisfactory" and "we must together quickly remedy this situation," she said. "Everyone has to take responsibility. I call on these branches to open negotiations without delay. And if that's not enough, we'll take our own," she concluded.
However, a lower minimum does not mean that employees are paid below the minimum wage: the employer must make up the gap. But when several levels of seniority are caught up by the minimum wage, this generates a "squeeze" in wages with an increased concentration of employees around the minimum wage. In other words, even with several years of seniority, the employee remains at the minimum wage.