The Dutch Senate passed the introduction of an hourly, rather than monthly, minimum wage this week.
After a year of inflation rates that have reached over 17% in the Netherlands, some of its workers might be able to take a little breather.
The measure, proposed on the initiative of MPs Kathmann (PvdA) and Maatoug (GroenLinks), will benefit above all those workers who, with a 40-hour working week, were paid the same at the end of the month as those who worked 36 hours a week — both of which counted as full time employment, the criterium for the minimum wage.
If you do the math, this will mean a pay rise of up to 11% for some groups of workers, The Netherlands Trade Union Confederation FNV told EUobserver, although the exact raise will depend on the sector.
While FNV welcomes the step to introduce an hourly minimum wage, their demand goes further: they call for the hourly minimum wage to be set at 14 euros per hour.
The country already has one of the highest minimum wages among the 22 member states with similar schemes, and for parties like the right-wing Forum for Democracy, business comes first.
"Since this law is effective, it will cost at least 140 million euros for those companies," said Johan Dessing, a member of the Senate for this party, who voted against the proposal.
For this politician, the modification of the minimum wage law has a negative effect on companies that have already suffered the consequences of the coronavirus and a weaker economy.
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