The lowest salary in the Federation this year will be 619 BAM. This decision was made by the Federal Government at the end of last year. Apart from the fact that there is nothing for the time being from the previously announced one thousand marks, an additional problem has appeared.
The President of the Economic and Social Council, Edhem Biber, warns that this decision is illegal, because it was made without their knowledge. On the other hand, the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina claims that they were informed about everything.
“Yes, we were informed and we do not think that this is a good option because the Government of FBiH insisted that the minimum wage be calculated this time according to the methodology prepared and established by the previous Government of FBiH. “Unfortunately, ordinary workers do not buy basic necessities of life according to methodologies, but according to real needs,” said Elvedin Šatorović, president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The government absolutely did not consult the Economic and Social Council. So this decision, if it was published, and the journalists told me that it was published in the Official Gazette, is absolutely illegal and does not represent any obligation for anyone. Neither for employers nor for workers,” Biber said.
Since it did not fulfill the promised increase in the guaranteed minimum wage, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina enabled employers to pay up to 2,520 BAM in one-time aid to workers or up to 6 installments, on which they will not pay taxes and contributions. The regulation will be a test for employers because they often justify the inability to increase wages by the amount of workload, the Synidikat points out, and they also state that this does not give the Government an amnesty to set the minimum wage by law.
SELVEDIN ŠATOROVIĆ, president of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Bosnia and Herzegovina
“There is now no obstacle for employers to translate their sweet talk, in the sense of the desire to improve the rights of workers and increase their wages, from words to deeds, because I must admit that the Government with such a decree absolutely worked in the hands of the employers, providing them with a better solution than what they they asked for, and therefore I expect positive effects towards the workers as well.”
However, this move is left to the will of the employers. They are obliged to adopt an internal act which, among other things, will regulate the conditions and amount of aid, as well as the date of payment and the number of tranches.
TONI KRALJEVIĆ, Minister of Finance FBiH (December 13)
“It enables employers, we don’t oblige them, it allows them not to do it with just one tranche, as was the case with the 13th salary, we allow them to do it up to 6 tranches.”
Whether and to what extent employers in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina will make their workers happy remains to be seen. In the Republika Srpska, the proposal of the president of the entity, that the minimum wage from next year is 1,050 BAM, is supported by the union as the net amount of the minimum wage. They say this is approximately the amount needed for food in the consumer basket, which was 1,140 BAM last month. On the other hand, the firm attitude of employers.
SAŠA AĆIĆ, Director of the Union of Employers of the RS
“The amount that we believe is based on macroeconomic indicators is a realistic amount, in line with what we have in the region. It is at the level of 750 BAM and any amount above that will be a challenge for economic growth and maintenance of the social protection system. ”
DANKO RUŽIČIĆ, vice president of the Federation of Trade Unions of the RS
“If the final proposal of the Union of Employers of the Republika Srpska is that the minimum wage is 750 BAM, then the question for the Government of the RS is how much the minimum wage will be in the RS because the Federation of Trade Unions of the RS does not accept the proposal of 750 BAM.”
It is most certain that the final word will be given by the Government this time as well. The Prime Minister requested that a session of the Economic and Social Council be scheduled for next week.
RADOVAN VIŠKOVIĆ, President of the Government of the RS
“I absolutely agree that the minimum wage should be increased and it will be increased, but then it will be the decision of the Government of the Republika Srpska. Until then, we will exhaust all legal procedures. I do not want to take over someone else’s work either on my own, or on the Government’s shoulders, because if that obligation of the Economic and Social Council, then they should agree.”
Currently, the lowest salary in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 596 BAM, and in the Republika Srpska 700 BAM. Until just a month ago, politicians were almost competing with announcements that the amount of the minimum wage from the New Year will be 1,000 BAM, and even more.
