What is the current minimum hourly wage in the world?

According to the definition of the World Labor Organization (ILO), minimum wage “is the minimum remuneration that an employer must pay a worker for the amount of work performed in a given period of time. determined”. The purpose of this policy is to prevent workers from being unreasonably underpaid. It will also ensure fair distribution of the fruits and help workers have a minimum standard of living.

Most countries around the world have minimum wages, hourly, day, week or month. In Americathe federal minimum hourly wage is currently $7.25, effective from 2009. Then, depending on the state, the minimum hourly wage is set at different rates.

Some are above or equal to the federal level. For example, the states of Washington, California and Washington, DC have the highest hourly wages in the US (over 14 USD). In cases where there is less, or even no minimum wage, employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will have to pay the federal rate.

Some states have fairly frequent hourly wage adjustments. For example, New York increased this number consistently from 2014 to 2022, with an average increase of $1 per year.

Minimum wages have long been the subject of controversy in the United States. In 2012, starting with fast food chains, workers from all walks of life in the United States launched a campaign to protest for the now $15 minimum wage. They consider this to be the lowest level to survive in expensive American cities. The pay rise is all the more urgent as workers grapple with a recession and inflation is at a multi-decade high.

Even so, to date, half of the states in the US still have a minimum wage of less than 10 USD. In 2019, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025. However, this bill was rejected by the Senate. US President Joe Biden last year signed an executive order to increase the minimum hourly wage to $15, but only for federal employees.

American businesses also use the hourly minimum wage. Retail giant Walmart last year increased this to 12 USD, from 11 USD remained unchanged for 3 years. However, this number is still lower than competitors Target and Amazon – both $15.

McDonald’s last year raised hourly wages for new employees to $11-17 and shift supervisors to $15-20, depending on the region. Meanwhile, Starbucks in 2021 also announced to increase the minimum wage in the US to 15 USD an hour, due to labor shortage and union pressure.

In Brother, the minimum wage is also regulated by the hour and divided by age. From leaving school to being under 18 is £4.81 ($6). Internships also benefit the same amount. From 18 to 20 years old is £6.83. 21 to 22 years old is £ 9.18 and over 23 is £ 9.5.

These levels are slightly higher than in 2021. The minimum hourly wage in the UK will be adjusted in April every year.

According to a policy introduced by former Prime Minister George Osborne, the minimum wage in the UK has increased very rapidly between 2015-2020. This raises wages (both directly and indirectly) for more than a third of workers in the UK, while pulling wage growth above inflation.

However, Financial Times Citing research published a few days ago by the Low Pay Commission – the minimum wage advisory body to the UK government – said that the initial goal of the authorities when raising wages, is to encourage businesses to switch to a model of increasing wages. labor productivity, was unsuccessful. The LPC study did not show any positive effects on occupations and regions that used to have low wages. The reason is that increasing labor productivity requires expensive investment costs, causing many small businesses to reduce investment to pay higher wages.

Meanwhile, in Asia, only a few economies have a minimum hourly wage, such as Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. In Hong Kong, the minimum hourly wage was proposed in 2010 and approved a year later. Currently, this is 37.5 Hong Kong dollars ($4.8) an hour, unchanged from 2019.

In JapanLast year, the national average hourly minimum wage rose 3.1% to 930 yen ($8.46). This is a record increase in this country. Provincial authorities will then set the levels for their own regions. Therefore, the highest minimum wage is in Tokyo, at 1,041 yen an hour. Meanwhile, the lowest level in 7 provinces is 820 yen.

“This increase is necessary in the context of the pandemic,” said Tamayo Tomita, a representative of Rengo (Japan’s General Trade Union). Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to raise the level to at least 1,000 yen to help seasonal workers earn more and narrow the gap between them and regular workers.

LIVE Korea. The agency has 27 members, including workers, businesses and citizens.

However, this new level received many criticisms, because it was higher than the enterprise’s expectation and lower than the level proposed by the employees. Last year’s negotiations also dragged on for months, due to disagreements between business representatives and workers.

The workers side wants the minimum wage to be 10,000 won “to ensure the life of low-income workers, in the context of the crisis and many countries have raised the minimum wage strongly to overcome the pandemic”, the Korea General Trade Union said. Quoc said. Meanwhile, the business group believes that this will push small business owners to the brink of bankruptcy and exacerbate the unemployment crisis.

Ha Thu