Dialogue launched over minimum wage ministry says

Cyprus has launched a dialogue concerning the possibility of introducing a minimum national salary, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Monday.

She was speaking at a meeting of the European Council ministers for employment taking place in Luxembourg.

The council’s agenda included the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union.

In her remarks, Emilianidou said the Cyprus government has begun considering a minimum salary, having completed the necessary research as well as sensitivity analyses, in order to factor in all the potential fiscal consequences of such a programme.

A sensitivity analysis is a financial model that determines how target variables are affected based on changes in other variables known as input variables. This model is also referred to as what-if or simulation analysis, and is a way to predict the outcome of a decision given a certain range of variables.

Emilianidou also voiced support to the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, noting that Cyprus has prioritised a number of projects and policies aimed at achieving the relevant targets – both through leveraging funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility and through the European Social Fund.

Earlier this year, a Eurostat report stated that Cyprus is one of only six countries in the EU without a national minimum wage.

“As of January 1, 2021, 21 out of the 27 member states of the EU have national minimum wages: only Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Finland and Sweden do not,” the report said.

In Cyprus there do exist minimum wages, but these are set by ministerial decree and concern only nine professions.