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A meeting of the Tripartite Council should take place on Tuesday, in which the president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation (LVK), Andrius Romanovskis, included the question “on the differentiation of the amount of the monthly minimum wage according to age”. It is stated that the size of the MMA does not depend on the employee’s work experience or competence.
“Some European countries practice differentiating MMA according to different age groups (UK, Ireland, Netherlands and others), and young people under 25 receive lower MMA than other workers due to lack of work experience and general education or higher”. – positive in LVK letter.
A 10-year proposal
A.Romanovskis 15 minutes He stated that the idea of referring such an issue to the Tripartite Council came after a discussion on social media with the economist Raimonds Kuodis. He raised this idea on Facebook on October 19 in response to a proposal to differentiate MMA by region.
“For the hundredth time: MMA must be differentiated by age, not by region,” wrote the economist, vice chairman of the board of the Bank of Lithuania.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Raimondas Kuodis
Subsequently, R. Kuodis recalled his words delivered at the meeting of the Confederation of Industrialists of Lithuania a decade ago.
“Age is a characteristic that does not change, so there are no possibilities for manipulations, such as, for example, differentiating by districts. Productivity is well correlated with age: young people are often inefficient, unskilled, and therefore , they can work for a lower minimum wage. ” In 2010, R. Kuodis spoke.
Now A. Romanovskis explains that no decision has been made on such a proposal, so he proposes to include this issue on the agenda of the Tripartite Council meeting and start a debate.
“It just came to our attention then. We understand that we have to negotiate, talk. Kuodis spoke, no one listened, we listened.” 15 minutes commented.
Luke April / 15min photo / Money
Help young people get a job
According to A. Romanovskis, young people often find it difficult to get a job due to lack of experience and are therefore pushed into the shadows.
“Young people face illegal work because they do not want to be paid a lot. There is no experience, the requirements are the same as for everyone else. This would make it easier for young people to enter the labor market and gain experience.
Most young people work in industries where wages are not high. I am referring to unskilled young people: students, schoolchildren or inexperienced in the labor market. I am sure that many young people are now working without social guarantees just to earn money ”, he commented.
Photo by Luke April / 15 minutes / Andrius Romanovskis
A. Romanovskis notes that age differentiation in MMA applies in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
“In Lithuania, the regulation is such that you have to pay at least MMA for an unskilled employee. If a person doesn’t work full time, they still have to pay MMA taxes. This makes employment quite difficult and such a differentiation would be logical and reasonable enough ”, the president of LVK is convinced.
According to A. Romanovskis, such a distribution of MMA could continue until a person reaches the age of 21 to 23 years. It is true that MMA won by a young person could arise depending on experience or education.
An alternative to regional MMA
Romanovsky is convinced that such a principle could replace the debate on the different MMA in the regions. The main problem with this last proposal is that the company can be registered throughout Lithuania and operate anywhere, thus trying to cheat the system.
“And with age, you are not going to cheat and reach the group, the younger, the further you are, the more difficult it is to enter the labor market.” 15 minutes assured the interlocutor.
According to the LVK head, if the government were willing to accept such a proposal, the confederation could present its proposals as early as December.
“According to the model, the government sets a minimum wage for everyone and then sets a lower minimum wage for some groups, according to world practice, according to the criteria. Later, with age, those criteria become: according to age, length of service, MMA can increase, ”commented A. Romanovskis.
Photo by Josvydas Elinskas / 15min / Euros in cash
Unions: this is nonsense
However, unions strongly oppose this proposal. Inga Ruginienė, President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation (LPSK) 15 minutes He said that he did not even know how to make such a proposal and called it complete nonsense.
“Clearly age discrimination. There are no arguments, “he commented.
It is true that A. Romanovskis reacts calmly.
“It just came to our attention then.” They have to shout, and we have to propose constructive arguments and try to convince them that they are not guided by emotions, but by common sense, “he is convinced.
Josvydo Elinsko / 15min nuotr./Inga Ruginienė
I.Ruginienė does not understand why a 50-year-old who has never worked should get more than a young person for the same job. In addition, it seems that business is confusing terms.
“Every workplace has a pay system where a particular position has ‘forks’. For example, if you work as a secretary, it could be between 600 and 800 euros. There are already ‘forks’ that reflect experience. But this It is by no means the minimum wage, because the minimum is for unskilled work. This is the lowest limit, where there cannot be a penny less. As a result, such differentiation seems strange, “he explained.
Furthermore, I.Ruginienė does not understand why he proposes to divide MMA by age and not, for example, by gender.
“If you’re sweeping the street, you’re 16 or you’re 20 or 40, you’re sweeping the street in the same way. Why in one case do you have to get more or more? If you are qualified, you need to drive a special machine that washes the sidewalks, it is logical that you can get a supplement for it and they have to pay you more than the minimum wage. As a result, I do not find any logic in this discussion, “he said.
Agree to break down by sector
When asked if this would be a better alternative to regional MMA, I. Ruginienė again strongly contradicts him. According to her, it cannot be divided according to any characteristic, neither by age nor by region.
“It is clear in Europe that the same work must be paid for exactly the same amount. I cannot pay less or less. It is an equal reward for the same work, we break that condition by dividing it, ”he said.
The only differentiation that LPSK would support is by sector, and in I.Ruginienė’s view, there is logic to that.
“The economic situation in each sector is different, wages are different. If we talk about the financial or IT sector, the minimum wage there could start at 1.5 thousand. the other sector, depending on its economic performance, can only have a minimum wage of € 700. We can talk about those things, “he explained.
Plans to increase MMA from 2021
15 minutes recalls that on Wednesday the government approved the state budget project for 2021. It also focuses on the monthly minimum wage (MMA), which should rise to € 35 “on paper”: from € 607 to € 642.
READ MORE: Business partners raise minimum wage with elections and unions marvel at the same complaints
It is true that the government gave up the opportunity in December this year to reconsider the issue.
If the economic forecasts of the Ministry of Finance in December are worse than in autumn, the Tripartite Council will have until December 11 to issue a new recommendation.
It would be reconsidered if the projected unemployment rate in 2021 was above 8.5% and average wage growth was less than 2%.
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