[ad_1]
The Government admits a further increase in the minimum wage for 2021, also having as a direct consequence an increase in the lower salaries of the public administration, and will now initiate a “general evaluation” of the labor legislation.
These executive positions in matters such as the national minimum wage, the update of the “first positions” of the public administration and the revision of labor legislation, including issues such as compensation and expiration of collective bargaining, were transmitted to the Lusa agency by the Minister of Labor. , Ana Mendes Godinho.
“On the part of the Government, there is no taboo in relation to the Labor Code. The Labor Code is not a sacred and immutable writing ”, declared Ana Mendes Godinho.
According to the minister, the Government is working on the preparation of a “green book” on the future of work and next week the bases of the debate on this issue will be brought to the social consultation.
“There are issues on the table related to changes in digital transformation, new types of work relationships, and new ways to blur the lines between work time, work space, and personal and family life. These questions must be asked in context. of the social consultation and not to make individual changes without the consistency of a general assessment ”, he said, here in a demarcation before the legislative initiatives that have been presented by some parties in parliament.
Ana Mendes Godinho later said that The current health, economic and social crisis has shown that it is necessary to work on matters such as the promotion of collective bargaining, and the protection and balance in labor relations..
“With the social partners we want to make an assessment in global terms, especially since we already have a decade later in the Labor Code. Therefore, it is time to make this assessment “, he defended.
Regarding the schedule, “after the start with the launching of the bases for the discussion of the Green Paper on Labor Relations starting next week,” the Minister of Labor and Social Security said that “The objective of the Government is to conclude the debate during 2021 within the framework of the social consultation“.
Asked about when the changes in labor legislation could come into force, Ana Mendes Godinho replied: “I think 2022 is a good time for us to have this evaluation.”
“The concern is that it is a cross-sectional evaluation, both to respond to current changes and to changes that can already be anticipated in relation to the future of the world of work,” he insisted.
In her statements to the Lusa agency, Ana Mendes Godinho also admitted that the The Government can raise even more the proposal that it has already made to increase the minimum wage from 635 to 659 euros from January 2021, with the goal of reaching 750 euros by the end of the legislature.
“The figure for 2021 (23.75 euros more than in 2020) is not a closed figure. The update is not defined because the discussion will take place in the context of the social consultation. Even in the current context of the country, the Government is very concerned that an important role is given to the appreciation of wages and family income, ”he said.
According to Ana Mendes Godinho, also with the direct intervention of the Minister of State and Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, the executive is “looking for ways to accommodate an increase that goes beyond” the proposal on the salary increase table. minimum of 659 euros, “but at the same time guaranteeing aid to companies through support”.
“We want to accommodate the increase so as not to affect the competitiveness of companies and, on the other hand, guarantee a rebalancing in situations where companies have contracts with the State and have a strong component of workers with minimum wages,” he justified.
The Labor Minister later stressed that the competence to set the minimum wage increase rests with the Government after “the social partners are heard.
“The goal is to go further in the minimum wage, but ensuring that companies have the ability to accommodate the increase, without affecting their competitiveness, “he insisted.
As a direct consequence of the evolution of the minimum wage, according to Ana Mendes Godinho, “there will necessarily be effects on the increase in salaries of the public service, reaching about one hundred thousand workers“.
“The Minister of Modernization of the State and Public Administration [Alexandra Leitão] is who follows this matter. But the Government does not exclude the possibility of introducing increases in the first remuneration positions of the public administration in the framework of union negotiations, “he added.
[ad_2]