The decree defining wage increases of 7.89% for 104,250 administrative workers in various sectors not covered by collective bargaining was published today in the Diário da República, with the opposition of three employers’ confederations.
The notice regarding the increases had already been published in the Labor and Employment Bulletin at the beginning of March, signed by the still Secretary of State for Labor, Miguel Fontes, and the ordinance was signed by several ministries.
The law, which stipulates that the minimum salaries will take effect “from March 1, 2024”, covers 104,250 workers in various professional categories, such as computer analysts and programmers, heads of services, accountants, legal and human resources support technicians, treasurers, telephone operators, cashiers, janitors, porters, receptionists and cleaning workers.
The government explains that, for the increase, it took into account the persistence of inflation “and its consequences in the current economic and social context”, thus promoting the updating of the salary scale in the same proportion as that defined for the national minimum wage (7.89%) “for all levels of the minimum monthly remuneration table”, reads the ordinance.
The Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (CCP), CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal (Portuguese Business Confederation) and the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) “objected” to the 7.89% increase for all levels of the minimum monthly pay scale and, consequently, the value of seniority pay.
“Among other arguments, the CCP considers that taking into account the slowdown in inflation, fuel prices and interest rates, combined with the context of uncertainty about the evolution of the world economy and instability associated with the war, the wage update for professional categories not covered by the RMMG should be 5%, as provided for in the Strengthening of the Medium-Term Agreement to Improve Incomes, Wages and Competitiveness,” the document states.
CIP, for its part, argues that the 7.89% increase “will have a greater impact on the third sector, namely on non-governmental and non-profit organizations, which, by their very nature, will find it difficult to bear the burden of the projected wage increase” and also considers that, given the current situation, the wage increase “is counterproductive”.
For its part, CAP states that “the effects of the working conditions ordinance should only be reported to the 1st day of the month prior to its publication, since the payment of several months’ backdated payments poses cash-flow difficulties for the employers covered by the ordinance”.
Also published today in the Diário da República is the decree that establishes the extraordinary updating of the price of service contracts with a multi-year duration, namely contracts for the acquisition of cleaning, security and human surveillance services, maintenance of buildings, installations or equipment and canteen services.
At issue are contracts signed before January 1, 2024 for which the labor component indexed to the national minimum wage was “the determining factor in the formation of the contract price”.
The State Budget for 2024 (OE2024) enshrined the system of extraordinary price updates for service purchase contracts and established that the circuits, deadlines, procedures and terms for authorizing extraordinary price updates are defined by ordinance of the ministries of finance, economy and the sea and labour, solidarity and social security.
The updating of contract prices in line with the increase in the minimum wage “will take place when the service provider co-contractor provides evidence to the public contracting authority” that “the contract price has suffered substantial impacts as a result of the entry into force” of the SB2024 law.
The minimum wage increased from 760 euros in 2023 to 820 euros in 2024.
