Irish national minimum wage to rise by 80c from 1 January
The national minimum wage is set to rise by 80c in January, which will reportedly benefit more than 164,000 workers in the country.
This represents a 7.6% increase on the current national minimum wage of €10.50 an hour, and follows the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar receiving Government approval to accept the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage to €11.30 an hour from 1 January 2023.
“We want to reward work and ensure that work pays more,” he said. “Minimum wage workers are among the hardest working people in Ireland and deserve to be paid more, particularly at a time of rising prices.Top of Form So, the Government has agreed to Bottom of Formaccept the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation to increase the national minimum wage by 80c to €11.30 from 1 January.”
The Tánaiste also announced that the Low Pay Commission has set an indicative national living wage for 2023 of €13.10 an hour. The intention is to phase in the living wage between now and 2026, when it will become mandatory. In the meantime, it will be revised annually as a benchmark for employers.
Furthermore, the Tánaiste revealed that the Sick Leave Act will come into effect in January. This Act will, for the first time, introduce an entitlement for all employees to sick leave paid by their employer in addition to illness benefit from the State.
The initial entitlement to statutory sick leave from an employer will be up to three days’ medically certified leave in a year. Regulations will provide for this to be capped at 70% of gross pay, subject to a daily maximum of €110. Illness Benefit is available from the Department of Social Protection from day four and for up to two years.
SME groups have voiced their concern about the minimum wage increase. Director of the Small Firms Association (SFA) Sven Spollen-Behrens called for the current wage rate to be maintained, and for the Government’s plan to phase in a new living wage to replace the minimum wage to be postponed.
“Costs for small business owners are at a never-seen-before high,” he said. “It is disappointing that the Government is now adding to these by imposing a further increase in the national minimum wage.”
Meanwhile, Irish SME Association (Isme) chief executive Neil McDonnell insisted that increasing the minimum wage was not the solution to a cost-of-living crisis.
