Salario Minimo Legal Vigente 2021 En Colombia

The interprofessional minimum wage for 2022 in Colombia has been set at €220.9 per month, or €2,651 per year, taking into account that 12 annual payments are taken into account, which is the usual distribution of the annual salary in most countries. In this regard, it should be noted that an analysis of articles 145 and 148 of the Substantive Labour Code shows that the employer has a legal obligation to increase the wages of workers receiving the minimum wage on the basis of the percentage fixed annually by decree. It is precisely for this reason that the Labour Code expressly provides that “the fixing of the minimum wage automatically modifies employment contracts in which a lower wage is agreed”. “In a context where there is a lot of unemployment and high levels of informality, the minimum wage increase should be as low as possible. Depending on the economic situation of the country, the adjustment should be close to 2% and we see that it has been increased to 3.5%,” Sepúlveda said. The minimum wage for 2022 was 1,000,000 pesos (one million pesos) with a transport subsidy of 117,172 pesos (1,117,172 pesos + transport assistance) and was agreed between the unions, unions and the national government on 13 and 14 December. With the December 14, 2021 MRT, the minimum wage in Colombia in 2022 is equivalent to $257.28 ($287.42 including transportation subsidy). The interprofessional minimum wage (SMI) is the amount of the minimum wage, or the value of the minimum wage, that an employee receives for the legal working day, regardless of the type of contract he has. The analyst added that this increase is one of the largest in real terms in the last decade. However, Jaramillo said that, given the situation, setting the salary for 2021 is not the most prudent way. However, with regard to the adjustment of the minimum wage, concerns are expressed every year about the legal obligation to apply the corresponding increase and which workers should be covered by the measure. The national government has announced that the minimum wage in Colombia will increase by 3.5% by 2021. This equates to $30,723, which would increase the current monthly minimum wage from $877,803 to $908,526.

This represents a 3.5% increase in the minimum wage and transportation subsidies compared to 2020. For example, the minimum wage was increased by $30,723 and transportation assistance by the Conference of the Parties by $3,600. In view of the above, the minimum wage increase should also apply to workers earning the full minimum wage. The overall monthly minimum wage only applies to workers earning 13 statutory monthly minimum wages by 2022; that is, $13,000,000 for the COP. In this regard, it should be recalled that Decree 771 of 3 June 2020 stipulated that during the validity of the state of health emergency declared by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers must recognize the value of legal assistance for transport as an aid to connectivity. This clarified that it also applies to workers who earn up to two (2) legal minimum wages and develop their functions in the modality of working from home and not in teleworking under the conditions and in accordance with the requirements of Law 1221 of 2008. Meanwhile, the opposition questioned the fact that, despite the good increase, this would not be reflected in the pockets of Colombians, as the increase in food, inputs and dollar prices above 4,000 pesos is constantly increasing. whereas the state of health emergency was extended by Resolution 2230 of 2020 of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection until at least 28 February 2021 and whereas judgment C-311 of 2020 of the Constitutional Tribunal concluded that the application of liaison assistance may be extended beyond the end of that emergency, Where appropriate, to ensure the continuity of working from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is clear that the legal amount must be paid by employers in accordance with their obligations to one title or another.

The decision to raise Colombia`s minimum wage by 2022 has been the subject of weeks of meetings and disagreements between unions and the government. For 2021, the country`s inflation was 5.6%, so the 10.07% increase applied for this year 2022 is about double the devaluation of the currency. The importance of increasing the value of the minimum wage in Colombia goes hand in hand with the large number of people earning it in the country. In fact, it should be noted that, according to the Ministry of Labor in Colombia, 58.1% of people who have a job earn a minimum wage or less. This means that about 12 million people earn this amount, which is often not enough to cover family expenses. This percentage increases among the younger population, with more difficulty finding work, and when they do, wages are generally lower than those of other older people. If we look at the SMI ranking we have published, Colombia ranks 63rd, making it one of the countries with the lowest minimum wage of the 101 on the list. After a few days of negotiations between the unions and the employers` union, what President Iván Duque announced a day ago about the minimum wage for 2022 has been achieved. The increase will be 10.7%, the most representative in recent years of the percentage and not so much of the money as such, taking into account inflation and the current price of the dollar in Colombia above 4,000 pesos. If we look at the minimum wage in Colombian pesos, which is the official currency in Colombia, we can see that this year it was 1,000,000 Colombian pesos and therefore the SMI increased by 91,474 Colombian pesos per month, compared to the previous salary, 10.1%. This increase is lower than the 2021 CPI of 5.6%, so workers lost purchasing power despite last year`s increase.

Colombia is one of the countries where minimum wage increases are common every year, so people are paying close attention to these changes. Increases are generally between 6 and 7% per year, although this percentage is not fixed as it depends on the economic health of the country at the time of the introduction of the new minimum wage. In this case, the variables focus on inflation and productivity indices. In 2021, the minimum wage in Colombia was $908,526, plus the transportation subsidy of $106,454, for a total of $1,014,980. about $290 (based on the MRT dollar). However, according to Decree 1724 of December 15, 2021, the legal minimum wage for 2022 in Colombia was $1,000,000 per month and came into effect on January 1. This increase represents an increase of 10.07% from 2021, which equates to approximately $255. The percentage increase is much higher than in recent years, partly due to the poverty problem resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has persisted due to the health and economic crisis. Regarding the transportation subsidy for 2022, the government has determined that in addition to the minimum wage, the transportation subsidy will be increased to 117,172 pesos.

Therefore, for this year 2022, the salary plus assistance will be 1,117,172 pesos per month. Keep in mind that the transportation subsidy is used by those who earn between one or two SMMLVs. If the labor force in Colombia adds 19.5 million people between January and October 2020, then those earning up to a minimum wage are 12.4 million people. First, the Constitutional Court stated, inter alia, in judgments SU-400 of 1997, C-1433 of 2000 and C-1064 of 2001, that wages above the legal minimum must be indexed at least to the consumer price index (CPI), failing which the wage would lose purchasing power, which would constitute a deterioration in the working conditions of workers. The minimum wage increase for 2022 is 10.07% compared to 908,526 pesos of the minimum wage in 2021 (+91,474 pesos). It entered into force on 1. January 2022 with the increase of the transport subsidy by 10.07% (+ 10,718 pesos) for people earning up to 2 months minimum wage. In total, the increase concerns employees who receive a minimum wage with transportation subsidy + 102,192 pesos.

For its part, the Labour Chamber of the Supreme Court, in judgments such as SL 12213 of 1999 and SL 11681 of 2015, has developed an opposite thesis, according to which, apart from the minimum wage, there is no legal basis for the employer to unilaterally make an annual adjustment for employees earning higher wages.