From January 1, 2024, the minimum wage is increased by 1.13%. A new amount which should further reduce the gap with the French who until now received a little more than the minimum growth wage. Where will your salary fit into all this? We take stock.
Good news for more than 3 million French people: from January 1, 2024, the minimum wage (Interprofessional growth minimum wage) will experience its eighth increase in three years! In fact, the government has decided to automatically revalue it to 1.13%, due to inflation. Which means that the gross hourly minimum wage will be set at 11.65 euros, compared to 11.52 euros currently, according to AFP calculations confirmed by the Ministry of Labor. Concretely, an employee on minimum wage will now receive 1766.92 euros gross per month for 35 hours per week against 1747.20 euros for the moment. In net terms, he will receive 1,398.69 euros of minimum wage per month, or an hourly net minimum wage of 9.22 euros. Let us also remember that people on the minimum wage can also benefit from the activity bonus in order to have a “salary supplement”, paid under means conditions.
If this increase in the minimum wage is good news, it can also create frustration among certain other employees who see their remuneration “caught up” by the minimum wage. Indeed, with this umpteenth revaluation, the gap between certain salaries is reduced. Result: people who received a little more than the minimum wage, if they are not increased in the meantime, will see their salary caught up by the minimum wage. According to the last INSEE studyon private sector salaries in 2022, half of French people earn less than 2,091 euros net per month and 1 in 10 employees earn less than 1,436 euros.
To be able to compare and situate your salary with the rest of the French, the Observatory of Inequalities has developed a simulator quite simple to use. All you need to do is enter your full-time net monthly salary, before withholding tax, and you will get a graph that you can hover over to see where you are on the curve. For example, a person who works full time, and is paid around 1680 euros per month (before withholding tax), will realize that they are part of the 27% of the population earning less than 1691 euros per month. Therefore, if you believe that your salary is getting closer and closer to the minimum wage, you know what you have to do during the next evaluations with your employer…