One of the most important discussions on economic issues that take place at the end of each year is how much the price will rise. minimum wage. For this 2023, the Government, businessmen and labor unions have reached an agreement to adjust 16 percent up to $1,160,000.
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However, it should be noted that this regulation is actually only mandatory for the approximately 3.5 million minimum wage earning people in Colombia today. There is no legal provision ordering a raise for the rest of the workers; although many companies do.
Juan Pablo López, managing partner of López & Asociados, Court provisions saying that salary must be subject to a mobility principle each year. However, this shows that the position is not compelling.
“It is said that in some cases there should be an absolute increase, in others it should be weighted or by mutual agreement of the parties. Also sometimes depending on the state of the company or the reality of the market. There is no definite position,” he said.
This explains why some workers who earn more than one minimum wage do not see an increase in their payroll or others receive a partial adjustment.
The draft labor reform, which was leaked a few days ago and which the Government expects to submit on March 16, contains a clause that lays out exactly that. All workers will have the right to demand that their salaries be increased at least at a rate equal to the inflation caused by 31 December.
So if the reform is approved today as proposed in that draft, companies will have to raise the wages of all workers every year without exception.
In addition, it was stated in the draft that the said increase should be applied retrospectively until 1 January of each year.
“The above establishes higher increases without prejudice to individual or collective agreements,” the draft says.
Rosmery Quintero, president of the Colombian Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Acopi)He points out that it is not a good message for it to be mandatory, as not all companies and industries have the same conditions all the time.
“When the minimum wage is raised, most companies generally raise the payroll of the entire payroll; “But it seems to me that it’s not a very good message to include it as mandatory as there are difficult times for some companies,” he said.
But Francisco Maltés, head of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT), said they agreed with the proposal.
One of the proposals being discussed is: night shift starts at 18:00, not 21:00, Working after this time will be considered overtime.
In addition, it is requested that the Sunday or holiday working surcharge be increased to 100 percent, not 75 percent.
Other points are also mentioned in the same way. contracts for the provision of services limited and used appropriately, that is, for specific and specialized tasks for a specified period of time.
Related digital platform workers The draft reform says that the self-employed should verify that the contracting platform is linked to social security in the health, pension and occupational risk subsystems and meet their contribution payment obligations.
Otherwise, they would have to pay 100% of the premiums directly, like the employer, and if a social security-protected risk materializes, they must respond to the consequences in the same way as the company. presence.
Source: Exame
