Workers (Beta/Sasa Djordjevic)
Employers in the industry are unhappy with an announced increase of the minimum wage in 2022 to RSD35,000 and claim that this will deal a huge blow financially to businesses and reduce income during the coronavirus pandemic.
Representatives of the hospitality industry have claimed that, despite a drastic decline in revenues during the pandemic, they would have to hike salaries which are above the current minimum wage as it is, due to a lack of labor, but that this would bump up the price of services. Employers are also unhappy about the fact that social dialog is only a formality because "in the end it is how President Aleksandar Vucic calculated it" and believe that negotiations are unnecessary.
Union of Employers director Srdjan Drobnjakovic has told BETA that the hike will be a major expenditure and will impact on employers' incomes and that small and medium-sized businesses will particularly be affected.
Negotiations on the minimum wage for 2022 between employers, unions and the state are scheduled to begin in the first half of August this year while the final sum will be arranged by Sept. 15. According to the law, if an agreement is not reached, the government will establish the size of the minimum wage which is what it did last year.
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