The government plans to approve Council of Ministers revaluation this Tuesday interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) to upgrade from the current 1,000 Euros 1,080 € gross (on 14 payments). This increase has some 2.5 million workers It will force thousands of companies across Spain to restructure their payrolls to comply with the measure.
And the increase will have a retrospective effect. January 1, 2023 and human resources departments must pay a supplemental ‘paguilla’ to affected workers, according to the pending delay from last month. How should this payment be made? How soon do companies have to pay? What happens if the employee receives bonuses and how will the new SMI affect them? In this article, we review all the keys to the measure.
What does it mean for the increase to be retroactive?
The government delayed the reassessment of the minimum wage due to internal differences. And a traditionally sanctioned measure State official bulletin In the last days of the year before (BOE) goes into effect, this was released in February 2023. The royal decree prepared by the executive foresees the application of the new amount of 1,080 euros, with retroactive effect from 1 January. This means that workers must have already received a minimum of 1,080 euros on last month’s payroll. And since last month companies didn’t yet know what the minimum wage will be this year, they now have to pay a month’s delay.
How should addresses pay the pending ‘paguilla’?
There are two possible formulas. On the one hand, the company can pay the worker a regular salary with the new amount, and then pay the latter separately; 80 euros. The specific amount will be the amount that separates the current salary from the EUR 1,080 figure. Another option companies have adopted in previous years is to add a single bonus to the February payroll, which specifically cuts down on employee pay. debts. This ‘paguilla’ will be unique and non-repeatable as there is only one month left for payment.
When should the company pay the late payment?
The minimum wage increase in 2020 was also retroactively approved and charged by the BOE in February, since then agreements have been reached and negotiations between the Government, employers and unions have dragged on. The royal decree that shaped the agreement did not clearly specify when companies should pay the January retroactive payment amount. The interpretation made by the unions at the time was that the unpaid payment should occur on the payroll. Februaryagencies or human resources departments have enough margin to include it.
This year, while the approval is legally effective on February 14, companies continue to have space to include the said payment on their February payroll. It’s common practice to close payrolls from the 15th of the month, although they tend to go above the 20th to ensure it reaches the worker on the last working day of each month. If a company does not pay a salary increase or debts for January, the worker can file a lawsuit with the court. quantity demandas a preliminary step in a possible lawsuit if your employer refuses to do so.
Can bonuses be sucked in to reach that minimum wage?
if he Supreme Court has been establishing a doctrine on this subject in recent years and has found that SMI has grown significantly. Minimum wage refers to the minimum income a worker should receive. In other words, an employee from this year full time (40 hours per week) cannot receive less than €1,080 gross (in 14 payments) per month. Or 1,260 euros gross in 12 payments. It is illegal to take less. collective agreement envisaged application (if obsolete).
However, the minimum wage is not the same as the base salary, and a worker can earn this minimum scale of 1,080 euros in many ways. The first is that the base salary is 1,080 euros. Another is that the base salary is lower and your employer makes up for the difference up to 1,080 euros. pluses. Some may be bonuses you already have, such as seniority or specialization bonuses. And the Supreme Court considers the perks absorbable to reach SMI.
To visualize with an example. A worker receives a gross wage of 1,050 euros per month (in 14 payments). Of these, 1,000 euros are the basic salary and 50 euros are supplementary to the specialty. Now the minimum wage rises to 1,080 euros, and the Court of Cassation comments that the company is only obliged to increase the base salary to 1,030 euros, then 50 euros plus the salary already received, to a total of 1,080 euros. If the company wishes to reward the worker and increase the base salary to EUR 1,080 to fully reflect the increase in SMI on his payroll, it can do so, but it is not obliged to do so and the employee cannot request it.
What happens if the worker receives part of his salary in kind?
In this case, the company is obliged to pay you in monetary terms. shape all SMI. In other words, you can include a transportation check or restaurant ticket in your conditions, but you cannot say that you paid below the minimum wage and made up the difference with other elements. The payslips that come in liquid form must be in the amount prescribed by SMI, and then the company must add the in-kind bonuses they have agreed upon beforehand. However, seconds cannot partially replace seconds.