The Government is set to sign off on plans this Wednesday that will raise the minimum wage to €11.30 an hour in 2023.
The 80 cent increase is one of several recommendations made in a recent report by the Low Pay Commission. The move would likely be introduced in January 2023 to coincide with changes expected for USC and PRSI.
The Government is also expected to approve plans to introduce a living wage, a rate of pay that will allow working adults to have a comfortable standard of living. The living wage would eventually replace the minimum wage in several years’ time and is proposed at €13.70 an hour.
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Tanáiste Leo Varadkar previously asked the Low Pay Commission to conduct research on how the Government can best introduce a living wage. He said that a living wage was necessary after the turbulence employees experienced over the pandemic. However, he also said that employers should also be considered when making these changes.
He previously stated: “I’m aware that we have a really uncertain period ahead in terms of employment. The most important workers’ right is their right to work, to have a job. That is why I am proposing we phase this in and I will be listening to employers’ views on these draft proposals.”
The boost to minimum wage will be of benefit to thousands of workers who receive hourly rates of pay. The living wage will gradually be phased in as its replacement over the next four years
The minimum wage currently stands at €10.50 an hour, although employers are legally entitled to pay 18 and 19 year old workers at sub minimum rates worth 80 and 90 per cent of the €10.50 total. The minimum wage was already raised last year by 80c from its previous rate of €9.70 an hour.
The 2023 budget will be announced on the September 27 which will officially confirm the rates of pay. Several changes, including energy credit payments and a cost of living package worth reportedly €2 billion, are expected to come into effect for next year.
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