The article was updated about the statement of the Ministry of Finance
The minimum wage for the next year is determined in the summer of the previous year. Therefore, the process of determining the level of the lowest salary in force from January 1, 2026 is underway.
The minimum wage will increase from July? This year it is different
Let's just add that now It amounts to PLN 4,666 gross. The minimum wage from July this year will not increase, as was the case in the previous one. This is related to the level of growth prices. If the average annual inflation forecasted by the government in the Budget Act exceeds 5 percent, the minimum wage in accordance with the minimum wage Act is raised twice – first in January, then in July. We had recently dealt with this situation in 2023 and 2024. For this year, inflation is forecast at 4.5 percent, and for the coming on average 3.8 percent. So there is nothing to expect.
Dispute in the government for a minimum wage
What about the scale of the increase? We have a lot of confusion and a lot of emotions, as is often the case with this topic. At the end of May in the media (incl. “Fakt” wrote about it) articles appeared suggesting preliminary government forecasts that could indicate that the lowest salary would increase by (only) the indicator inflationi.e. mentioned 3.8 percent This would mean an increase to PLN 4,843 gross (Let us emphasize: they were not at that stage any official government plans).
Also before the second round of presidential elections Trade unionists from the three largest organizations (NSZZ “Solidarność”, National Trade Union Agreement and Trade Union “Forum”) presented their proposal: an increase of 7.48 percent, up to PLN 5015 gross. Trade unionists pierced Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policywhich, on May 27, sent to the permanent committee of the Council of Ministers to increase the minimum wage by 7.6 percent, up to PLN 5020 gross (this would give about PLN 3,752 “on hand” against around PLN 3,511 this year).
Before the proposal of the Labor Ministry had a chance to break up by the government, before it was presented, politicians unleashed a small storm. MP Paulina Matysiak alerted together to X that we are waiting for “the lowest increase in the minimum wage for 16 years!” Under this post, Anna Maria Żukowska from the left got into the discussion with its author, accusing Matysiak, among others suggesting that the government's case is already a foregone conclusion. Well, it is not (as Matysiak herself stated in the discussion).
What does the government think? We know a little (but not entirely)
The government is dealing with a minimum wage, together with preparing assumptions for next year's budget. Until June 15, he is required to submit his proposal to trade unions and employers, because by that day he is also to show budget assumptions. For now, there is no such government position. But there are leaks.
According to reports Money.pl, The Minister of Finance did not like the idea of the labor department (just like the expectations of trade unionists). Andrzej Domański is of the opinion that such a high increase in the minimum wage He would hit small and medium -sized companies. And for this reason – not the budget, according to the portal information – the Ministry of Finance believes that the minimum wage after taking into account the forecast inflation should increase to PLN 4806 grossand after taking into account the so -called Verification indicator much less, up to PLN 4,670.7 (about PLN 3 per month “on hand”). The resort in the conclusion in the letter, which he sent to the ministries before the meeting of the permanent government committee, was to indicate that he prefers this lower value.
“According to Money.pl information, in the letter that went to the ministries before the meeting of the Standing Government Committee, the Ministry of Finance indicated that salary The minimum calculated taking into account the forecast inflation should amount to PLN 4806 (i.e. in accordance with the forecast inflation rate), and after taking into account the so -called verification indicator – PLN 4,670.7. And in the conclusion of the magazine there was a statement that the value calculated using the verification indicator is preferred, “reads the portal.
– if the Minister of Finance would accept the proposals, It would be the lowest increase in the minimum wage for 20 years. Compared to inflation, it would de facto reduce the minimum wage – said Money.pl Agnieszka Dziemianowicz -Bąk, head of the labor department. In addition, in an interview with the aforementioned portal, the Ministry of Finance reported that it proposed PLN 4806. The discussion on this topic on the regular government committee was to take place on Thursday – whether it happened and what was established, we do not know this. However, we have a very politically hot period and the government also deals with a broader problem of cooperation within the coalition – maybe this one topic ran out of time or one position has not been developed yet.
Already after the publication of this text, the Ministry of Finance gave us a definite message: his position assumes an increase in the minimum wage up to PLN 4,806 per month. “This means a real increase of PLN 140 per month relative to the current rate, which is PLN 4,666. This increase corresponds to the forecast inflation at 2026 and amounts to 3 pp.” – we read. “The Ministry of Finance denies media reports, which suggest that the ministry has proposed an increase in the minimum wage increase in 2026 below the forecast inflation for next year. The Ministry of Finance has never presented such a proposal” – added the ministry.
It is difficult to understand all this, and this is not the end of the process. Here is the abbreviation of what we know at the moment: The Ministry of Finance wants to raise the minimum wage to the lowest possible, the labor department would like a clearly higher (even higher than trade unionists), and this is the third page of the dialogue: the employer.
Employers beat the alarm (as always)
They would probably applaud the Ministry of Finance's approach mentioned above, because they “jointly and jointly and severally” of the Ministry of Labor's proposals. They made an appealsigned by the bosses of BCC, the Lewiatan Confederation, Employers of the Republic of Poland, the Polish Economic Society, ZPP and the Polish Craft Association.
They argue in it that a minimum wage increase to a level above PLN 5,000 would mean “reproduction of the mistakes of the previous government”. In their opinion, although such movements are justified by the concern about the poorest, “in fact it is in them that it strikes the most, limiting the availability of jobs and driving poverty.” In the appeal they indicate that the minimum wage in Poland is charged by 25 percent. people employed under an employment contract and this “world record” – they relate to the US and the EU, where it is 1 and 7 percent respectively. They mention, among others The risk of growth of inflation, which they think, may drive poverty. “The minimum wage creates a 'golden frame' for the working people And a barrier for people who want to enter the labor market, especially after a long break, without great qualifications, away from active labor markets ” – we read.
They want changes in calculating the minimum wage
The approach of entrepreneurs to this topic does not change in principle: year after year they apply for the lowest possible increase in the minimum wage, and in recent years they criticize its strong growth, indicating that the Polish economy is losing competitiveness.
This is what I heard in April from Wojciech Kostrzewa, president of the Polish Business Councilon the margins of conversations about the German economy. – You have to say clearly: the times when Poland won a cheap working force, they went into the past and will not come back. In addition, in the last several years we have had a little reasonable policy regarding the minimum wage. It led to the fact that in relation to medium salaries this pay is one of the highest in Europe. This will pose forms of economic cooperation, which require cheap labor, to countries that are able to offer it. In Europe, such countries are Romania and Bulgaria – he said (the whole conversation can be read here: Germany on the crossover. They hide null schwarze. And what now?).
It presents a slightly different view on this subject Marcin Piątkowski, economist, prof. Leon Koźmiński Academy: – I think we have an optimal minimum wage. Contrary to those who have proposed for several decades that every increase would kill the Polish economy. Neither the economy was due to this, nor unemployment increased – after all, it is the lowest in the European Union. Of course, you can't overdo it and raise a minimum wage every year by several percent – he said.
Next year, according to employers It should not increase by more than PLN 50. However, there is a new idea on this page and concerns a change in calculating the level of the lowest wages. Employers propose that the minimum wage from 2027 should be determined in a different way as 60 percent Median remuneration in the national economy. In addition, they believe that wages in the budget should not increase slower than the increase in other remuneration in the national economy. At the same time, they should increase more than the minimum wage next year to equalize the years of stagnation. In addition, “changes in the remuneration of individual public sector employees should result from the effects of their work.”
Read also: The minimum salary is not always minimal. “Pathology” on the Polish labor market