According to one proposal, the minimum wage could rise to HUF 312,000 if combined with the guaranteed minimum wage.

The basics of minimum wages in Hungary may change from 2024: during wage negotiations in the fall, the merger of the current minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage will be on the agenda, napi. hu.

According to the proposal on the agenda of the competition sector and the Government’s Standing Consultative Forum (VKF), the amount of the minimum wage will increase by more than a third in the next year if the two types of mandatory minimum wage are replaced by one.

According to the newspaper article, in practice this means that the amount of the minimum wage will rise from 232,000 HUF to no less than 296,400 HUF, which is currently the amount of the guaranteed minimum wage. In order to ensure that the roughly 800,000 workers affected by the minimum wage do not fare badly, the amount will continue to rise by at least 5.5% from January, thus preserving its real value.

Thus, the amount of the minimum wage will increase by one step, by 34.8 percent in 2024, to 312,700 HUF.

As far as the newspaper is aware, neither interest groups nor the government have evaded minimum wage reform, but substantive discussions have yet to take place.

Emre PalkovicThe head of the National Association of Workers’ Councils assured napi.hu that in the future, as in most European countries, the mandatory minimum wage should be only one amount.

The trade union leader indicated that in 2006 a guaranteed minimum wage linked to secondary education was introduced. The purpose of its introduction was to give greater appreciation to employees who have some kind of profession or education. The important difference here is that although unemployment was the problem in 2006, labor shortages are now commonplace.