QCOSTARICA — The Consejo Nacional de Salarios (CNS) – National Wage Council – approved on Monday, a general increase in minimum wages in the private sector of 1.83%, which will come into force as of January 1, 2024.
Representatives of the labor, business, and government sectors participated equally at the CNS negotiation table.
The approval was by majority, although the increase corresponds to what was stated in the proposal that the Executive had presented on October 23.
The unions had requested increases of between 1.86% and 4.8%; while, days later, businessmen asked for an adjustment of up to 0.36%.
According to a statement from the Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social (MTSS) – Ministry of Labor, the CNS considered all the proposals presented by the sectors in the hearings that began on October 16.
Click here for the list of Minimum Salaries by occupation for 2023 in the private sector.
The document indicates that the government proposal considers the average growth of the economy over the last three years, in addition to a projected growth for the following year, which results in a figure of 1.83%.
This adjustment will apply generally to the minimum wages of all salary classes defined in the corresponding decree and its recognition will be mandatory.
Likewise, it was agreed to respect previous agreements that establish additional increases for the monthly domestic service salary (+2.34%); that of monthly semi-skilled and skilled workers (+0.40%), such as kitchen helpers or tourist guides, for example; and monthly specialized worker (+0.57%), such as a tailor.
