No agreement on minimum wage increase, Government to decide by September 15 – Taxes and contributions to be reduced ahead of higher earnings in 2027

The Serbian Government will make a final decision on the minimum wage for 2027 by September 15 because the positions on that amount were not agreed upon at today’s session of the Social and Economic Council. In the negotiations, the Ministry of Finance proposed to increase the minimum wage from the current EUR 550 to EUR 600, and employers accepted that amount on the condition that the non-taxable amount of wages be increased.

During the negotiations, the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia (SSSS) and the Association of Branch Trade Unions (UGS) “Nezavisnost” requested to be told how much the wage increase would be in the public sector in order to determine what amount they would advocate for so that wages for different jobs would not be equalized, but they did not receive a response. During the negotiations, SSSS and UGS “Nezavisnost” also asked when the goal of a minimum wage of EUR 650, which President Aleksandar Vucic had promised two or three years before, would be achieved, and in the meantime, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said that “the amount of EUR 650 will be reached by the end of 2027.”

For the past few years, Vucic has been announcing the minimum wage even before the start of negotiations, ignoring the union’s statement that that made negotiations pointless.

This year, the minimum net wage (without taxes and contributions) in Serbia is around 65,000 dinars, or around EUR 550, which places it among the countries with the lowest minimum wage in Europe.

Ahead of today’s SES meeting, Aleksandar Vucic announced that taxes and contributions would be reduced so that the minimum wage could be increased from January of the next year.

He stated that “the domestic economy cannot be destroyed by increasing the minimum wage that employers would not be able to pay, so the state will accept that increase at its own expense.”

Socijalno-ekonomski savet Republike Srbije Beograd

Social and Economic Council

Aleksandar Vučić

minimum wage

employers

wage taxes and contributions