Legal Notice 144 of 2017, which has come into force on 18th May 2017, has introduced a mandatory increase to minimum wage.
The Legal Notice lays down that:
– All employees on a minimum wage shall be entitled to a mandatory increase of €3 per week upon completion of the 1st year of employment with the same employer, and upon completion of the second year to a further additional increase of €3 per week.
– Any employees earning more than the basic minimum wage shall also be entitled to the portion of the increases during the second and third year of their employment – in order to place such employees on the minimum established wage for the second and third year of employment.
– For existing employees on the minimum wage who on the 28th April have already completed one year of employment with the same employer, shall be entitled to mandatory supplements as follows: (i) with effect from 1st January 2017: up to a maximum of €3 per week adjustment; (ii) in 2018: up to a maximum of €3 per week adjustment; (iii) in 2019: the balance to reach an increase of €6 in the minimum wage provided that the employee will have been in employment with the same employer for three years or more.
“Employment with the same employer” shall mean employment with the employer who engaged the employee originally and shall include other entities within the same group of companies of which the employer forms part.
The national minimum wage of part-time employees shall be calculated pro rata at the same hourly rate of a comparable whole-time employee.
The Legal notice also states in regard to employees who are entitled to the mandatory supplements and who are engaged on a definite contract of employment:
– shall not upon expiry of such contract be substituted by another employee for up to 1 year from that date upon which the contract expired unless there is a good and sufficient cause to substitute that employee;
– if within six months from the expiry of the first contact of employment the employee is then offered another fixed term contract the two periods shall be considered to be a continuous period.
