Young people’s response to employers offering a lower minimum wage: this is shooting at their feet

The issue of differentiating the monthly minimum wage by age was discussed at a meeting of the Tripartite Council made up of government, employer and worker representatives on Tuesday.

The Lithuanian Business Confederation presented this proposal.

The Lithuanian Business Confederation notes that, although the last meeting of the Tripartite Council failed to reach an agreement on increasing the monthly minimum wage (MMA), the Government of the Republic of Lithuania considered and agreed to increase the MMA by 35 euros to 642 (excluding tax) from 2021., the minimum hourly wage is up to 3.93 EUR (before tax).

This amount does not depend on the employee’s work experience or competence. Part of the practice in European countries to differentiate MMA according to different age groups (UK, Ireland, Netherlands and others), with young people under 25 receiving MMA lower than other workers due to lack of experience labor and education or training. suggested by the confederation.

I would pay from 15 to 21 years

Rūta Skyrienė, Executive Director of the Investor Forum, who chaired the meeting, emphasized that the issue was raised for discussion only. “Nobody offers anything yet, we need to look for different solutions,” he added.

Andrius Romanovskis, president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, who introduced the proposal, said it referred to the experiences of Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

“The problem is that youth unemployment is huge. Here’s the problem for all countries. The Dutch have started to see the need to somehow encourage employers to turn to young people. The only incentive is financial.

We know that MMA is a certain tax liability, certain restrictions. It has been suggested that from 15-16 years old (we are only talking about unskilled and low quality work) you should be able to enter the labor market. After all, they get paid part of the time, “he said.

Romanowski later clarified that a lower MMA could be paid to workers under the age of 20-21.

Raminta Radavičienė, representative of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, who participated in the meeting, said the issue was relevant because the European Commission was to publish a draft directive on MMA on Wednesday.

“Until now, international social partners have been particularly opposed to the form of the document being a directive rather than a directive,” he said.

I should have less time to study

Eigirdas Sarkanas, president of the Lithuanian Students’ Union, emphasized that the proposal would be age discrimination.

“In Lithuania, students spend 33 hours a week working, while the European average is around 28 hours. In Lithuania, students receive an income of 500 euros per month. Students agree that work is harmful for their learning outcomes, but they are forced to work.

With the MMA differentiation, we will create conditions where students will have to work 35-40 hours instead of 33 hours a week for the same income, 500 euros. etc. ”He warned.

E. Sarkan also pointed out that in the countries mentioned by A. Romanovskis, there are incentives for students, not just minors of MMA.

According to A, it must be said that B. In Denmark, it is a very clear state policy that working students (up to 20 hours a week) can receive state aid of up to 700 euros. If you work more than 20 hours, you lose that support.

The Netherlands also has a scholarship system that provides support for studies, accommodation and other similar study-related subjects. We need to discuss the complex structure and change.

“Now there is the impression that employers have failed to convince the government and unions that MMA should not arise, trying to circumvent the situation and reduce it for young people,” he said.

D. Lavrukaitis, who also participated in the virtual meeting, said that young people in the UK evaluate their order very badly.

He also criticized accusations of high youth unemployment. Students began to enroll en masse in the Employment Service for an unemployment benefit of € 200, which allegedly raised the unemployment rate. In August and September 7 thousand people signed up. students and 97 percent. they study according to a permanent form of study. What kind of unemployed are there here? “, Thought.

The student representative also pointed out that by receiving a lower salary, students will have more time to dedicate to work than to study.

“Because of the short-term benefits, cheaper labor, you want to have less skilled employees in the future,” said D. Lavrukaitis.

“The proposal goes against the objectives of our demographic policy. How can we prevent young people from going abroad if we are not talking about a bigger MMA, but a smaller one?

Furthermore, the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 establishes that age discrimination in the labor market must be combated. It has also been pointed out that young people suffer discrimination in the labor market and that it is necessary to take measures to create quality jobs that guarantee the right to a decent wage.

In general, Europe is moving in the opposite direction to this proposal. In no case can wage dumping and poverty of workers be encouraged. Young people cannot be given an atypical status that results in extremely low wages, ”he said.

Eglė Radišauskienė, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labor, also opposed the proposal.

“Differentiating MMA would require an amendment to the Labor Code. Let me remind you that it was changed in 2017 and there is no longer a legal basis for differentiation.

In our minds, that would be discrimination. Especially since no size is offered. In countries where differentiation occurs, the MMA is very high. If we set 1 thousand. then the differentiation could be discussed, ”he said.