Croatia’s decent monthly wage should amount to €2,025 net to cover living costs including food, housing, healthcare and social participation, union leader Mario Iveković said on Thursday.
Presenting the calculation on Decent Wage Day, Iveković, head of the Novi sindikat (New Union), said the figure reflects the costs of food, transport, children’s education and leisure. He noted that Croatia is the only European Union member state with a constitutionally established decent wage, although no official benchmark has yet been adopted.
The union’s current figure is advisory but not binding, he added, saying work is under way to improve the methodology.
Iveković said progress had been made in recent years, with the ratio of Croatia’s minimum wage to a decent wage rising from 27% nearly a decade ago to almost 40% today, compared with 25-30% in neighbouring countries. He praised government efforts to lift wages and expressed hope it would deliver on its pledge to raise the gross minimum wage to €1,250 by the end of its term.
Marina Palčić, president of the Independent Union of Croatian Workers, said a decent wage should guarantee a normal workload, ensure time for rest and enable workers to maintain a social life.