Workers in France on basic pay were given a pre-Christmas disappointment on Monday when it was announced that the minimum wage would be raised by less than 1%.
The 0.93% increase is the equivalent of nine cents per hour, bringing the hourly wage to €9.76. For full-time workers on 35 hours per week, the monthly income would be €1,466 before tax declining to take-home of €1,141 after tax.
The last time the country’s minimum wage was boosted over the 0.93% automatic rise was just after the 2012 election of François Hollande. Then it went up by 2%.
Earlier this month Hollande promised to spend the final months of his term in office protecting the rights of the weakest and most vulnerable in society. He is due to leave the presidency in May 2017.
Economists had warned, however, that a significant increase in wages could weaken the country’s struggling economy.
According to several reports, including one from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the French minimum was already the fifth highest in the developed nations, coming after Australia, Luxembourg, Belgium and Ireland.
The top ten countries for the highest minimum pay were rounded out by the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Canada and the UK.
