The National Minimum Wage has increased to €11.30 per hour from the 1st of January 2023. This represents an 80 cents increase, or 7.6%, on the current National Minimum Wage of €10.50 per hour and will see at least an estimated 164,700 people enjoy an increase to their wages.
For an Employee earning the National Minimum Wage working a 39-hour week, this translates to a pay increase of €31.20 per week or more than €120 per month, or €1,600 per annum.
Additionally, the Low Pay Commission has set an indicative National Living Wage for 2023 of €13.10 per hour. The government’s intention is to incrementally implement the Living Wage on a phase-by-phase basis between now and 2026 when it will become mandatory for all Employers to pay their workers such. In the meantime, it will be revised annually as a benchmark for Employers.
This Government decision basically gives effect to the provisions of the Living Wage Bill 2022, which is currently in its third stage before the Dáil. The Bill is a Labour Party initiative intended to amend the law relating to the determination, declaration and review of a national minimum hourly rate of pay for Employees so as to set an hourly pay rate that represents a ‘living income’.