The Ministry of Labor will consider the possibility of ensuring that Russian employers pay their workers at least the minimum wage established by the government.
Relevant amendments will be considered by the Russian tripartite commission for the regulation of social and labor relations, Izvestia reports.
The established minimum wage in Russia is RUR 12,130. But, in accounting, it can include a base rate and a bonus or any kind of additional payment.
In this case though, employers have no obligation to pay the bonus part, so the worker’s income becomes even lower than the minimum wage. In particular, teachers often make less than the minimum wage, and their financial situation is highly dependent on the bonus part.
The initiative of the Ministry of Labor, trade unions and employers involves raising the stable part of the salary (wage) to the minimum wage level and preventing employers from “tampering with figures.” This way people will make at least the minimum wage for real, not on paper.
The Ministry of Labor declined to cite the exact percentage of Russians making less than the minimum wage.