Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - North Macedonia (Ratification: 1991)

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Minimum wage system. The Committee notes the adoption of the Minimum Wage Act (Official Gazette No. 11/12), in particular section 4 which defines for the first time the national minimum wage as a standard percentage, for example, 39.6 per cent of the country’s gross average wage, established by the State Statistical Office for the preceding year. The Committee also notes that the amount of the national minimum wage is published in the Official Gazette upon the opinion of the Economic and Social Council. While noting that the minimum wage now represents a fixed proportion of a statistical indicator to be recorded and announced every year by an independent national institution, the Committee requests the Government to clarify the exact role of the Economic and Social Council in the minimum wage fixing process and the practical effect of obtaining the opinion of the Council before the publication of the minimum wage rate. The Committee also requests the Government to explain whether in fixing the minimum wage level at nearly 40 per cent of the gross average wage, it has duly taken into consideration social criteria, for instance the basic needs of the workers and their families and the cost of living, as prescribed by Article 3 of the Convention.