- The minimum wage increase will positively affect more than 3 million people, including foreigners, who often start at the lowest rates.
- Both workers and candidates from other continents coming to our country for work – especially at the beginning – do not have exorbitant financial expectations. Slightly different is this division in the case of Ukrainians.
- A raise for employers is slightly worse news. If they want to keep the team and meet their financial expectations, the cost of the move is likely to fall on consumers.
- Maybe a convenient solution for entrepreneurs would be to introduce a differentiated minimum wage (regionally or by industry), taking into account the different costs of doing business.
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They are the ones who will replace Ukrainians. For the Polish minimum wage they will support a family for several months
The gross minimum wage from January will rise to PLN 4666 (PLN 3510.92 net), and the minimum hourly rate will reach PLN 30.50. The changes are welcomed by many foreigners from Asia, Africa and South America working in Poland, as well as those who have gone through recruitment and legal residency procedures and will come to the Vistula for work – 26 percent of them declare that they want to earn between PLN 3,000 and PLN 3,900 net. Ukrainians have a different financial approach – their minimum threshold for financial expectations is PLN 4,000 net, according to a survey by the Progres Group.
The Social Dialogue Council, which includes representatives of employers, trade unions and the government, considered a proposal to increase the minimum wage to PLN 4,626 gross, and the minimum hourly rate to PLN 30.20. However, the lack of agreement on the matter resulted in the decision ultimately being made by the government. This means that the lowest salary will be 53.83% of the average wage, which now stands at PLN 8673 gross. By comparison, the current minimum wage is 4300 PLN gross, which is about 3261.53 PLN per hand, and the minimum hourly rate is 28.10 PLN.
– The new regulations will affect more than 3 million people employed on the lowest wages, who will gain real wage increases. They will also please foreigners who are economically active in our country, as they too often start at the lowest national wage. Often for newcomers from Asia, Africa or South America such a starting amount is satisfactory, because in their homeland they could not count on such a salary. Higher expectations are held by Ukrainians, who constitute the largest group of labor migrants and before many years have managed to develop a strong position among employers. Workers of other nationalities, especially from distant directions, are only at the beginning of this road, although they are coming to us in increasing numbers, and the openness to their employment is gradually increasing,” says Cezary Maciołek, president of the Progres Group.
Only in the first half of 2024. employment was legalized in the largest number to citizens of countries using the notification procedure and the simplified procedure – declarations of entrustment of work to foreigners, mainly Ukraine (588884), Belarus (96985), Georgia (42328), Philippines (20513), Nepal (19635), Moldova (19632), India (18730), Colombia (16830), Uzbekistan (14224) and Bangladesh (11371).
The number of foreigners employed in the first half of 2024 is increasing, says Maciołek, president of the Progres Group.
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Financial expectations of Ukrainians in Poland are rising
According to a study by the Progres Group, both pemployees and candidates from other continents coming to our country for work – especially at the beginning –do not have exorbitant financial expectations.
- 26 percent of respondents want to earn between PLN 3,000 and PLN 3,900 net in Poland.
- Nearly half (48 percent) expect to be paid between PLN 4,000 and PLN 7,700 on hand.
- Higher salaries ie. more than PLN 7700 would like to receive 26 percent of survey participants.
Slightly different is this distribution for Ukrainians.
- 5 percent of respondents would agree to earnings of less than PLN 4000 net,
- 85 percent. expect a salary of between PLN 4,000 and PLN 7700 net,
- and 10 percent want to earn more than PLN 7700 on hand.
Only in the case of our eastern neighbors, their expectations, do not always go hand in hand with reality. A survey by the Progres Group shows that currently the earnings of 69 percent of Ukrainians working in Poland temporarily, are in the range of PLN 3,300-5,500 net.
– Raising the minimum wage to PLN 4,666 from January 2025 is an increase that, compared to increases in 2023 and 2024, may seem low and not prohibitive for entrepreneurs. The perspective changes when we consider, for example, the base amount from which the increase took place. It is already quite high for quite a few companies. Moreover, an increase in the minimum wage by a few hundred zlotys may impose further wage pressure on entrepreneurs. If they want to keep the team and meet their financial expectations, it is likely that the cost of this move will fall on consumers, and this means an increase in the price of services and products, or a decrease in their quality, when companies decide not to pass on said costs to customers,” Cezary Maciołek points out. – It is also worth considering whether the minimum wage should be uniform across the country, or rather differentiated regionally or by industry, taking into account the different costs of doing business. In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, salaries are negotiated with industry unions, which could be an alternative model, he adds.
The highest level of salaries – according to the Central Statistical Office – in Poland in the first half of the year was recorded in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship (earnings there accounted for 115.4 percent of the national average), and the lowest in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship (17.3 percent less than the national average). Salaries higher than the national average were also recorded in: the Lower Silesian (by 5.0 percent), Lesser Poland (by 4.9 percent), Pomeranian (by 1.2 percent) and Silesian (by 0.7 percent) provinces. The group of provinces with the lowest wages included Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Lubelskie and Świętokrzyskie (by 15.6 percent each, by 15.3 percent, and by 15.2 percent less than the national average, respectively).
Taking into account the industries to which the minimum wage could be adjusted, the average monthly gross salary is the highest:
- in the information and communications sector (PLN 13232),
- on the next high places are companies operating in areas such as real estate services (PLN 8266),
- industry (PLN 8158),
- enterprise sector (PLN 8145)
- construction (PLN 7839).
- The following items are: manufacturing (PLN 7794),
- transport and storage (PLN 7695),
- trade, repair of motor vehicles (PLN 7491),
- administration and support activities (PLN 6393)
- accommodation and catering (PLN 6008).
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