The decision on the minimum wage in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina of 1,000 convertible marks has been made and there is no going back, said the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nermin Nikšić.
Nikšić added that the decision to increase the minimum wage by 381 BAM will be implemented this year, regardless of the “very loud outcry from some employers”, announcing strict controls on companies suspected of trying to manipulate the decision.
By implementing the decision on the minimum wage, which will cover 187,690 workers in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, employers will pay 468 million BAM into the federal budget this year.
Of this, according to the estimate of the FBiH Tax Administration, 256 million will be paid for contributions based on pension and disability insurance, 183 million BAM for the FBiH health fund, cantonal institutes will also receive income, while 22 million will be paid for unemployment insurance.
Lower levels of government, Nikšić said, will earn 76.8 million BAM.
Employers have protected themselves from inflation in the past period by increasing the prices of products and services and thus securing their profits, while not protecting workers by raising their salaries.
Nikšić also stated that employers paid about ten percent of the possible one and a half billion BAM based on tax-free assistance to employees under previous regulations of the FBiH Government.
He promised that the Government would provide incentives for crafts, micro and small enterprises, which employ about 140,000 workers, so that they would feel the consequences of raising the minimum wage as little as possible.
“But we will be very sensitive to dismissals, deregistration of workers and their re-employment in the form of undeclared work,” said Nikšić, who called on workers to report all irregularities in companies to guarantee “maximum protection for the complainants.”
He also announced increased inspection supervision in companies regarding the implementation of the regulation on the minimum wage of 1,000 BAM.
As the next step of the FBiH Government, Nikšić announced changes to fiscal laws – on contributions, income and minimum wage, as well as the continuation of dialogue with social partners.
At its session on the penultimate day of 2024, the FBiH Government adopted a regulation increasing the minimum wage from 619 to 1,000 BAM for 2025. This caused a storm of reactions, both from those who support the measure and from opponents, among whom a part of employers in the FBiH are leading, AA writes.
