Workers see their purchasing power evaporate as fuel, energy and food prices continue to rise, but are not entitled to a higher salary as a result. However, they are currently in a stronger position to negotiate a salary increase due to the tight labor market.
“We are now really in an employee market, so people can knock on their boss’s door to negotiate a higher wage in the meantime. An employer is not obliged to raise wages, even if employees can no longer pay their bills because of inflation.” , says employment lawyer Pascal Besselink of legal service provider DAS.
“But because of the shortage, a company can, for example, compensate an employee to keep him that way. In addition, the salary can also be negotiated during the contract discussion.”
Employers’ association AWVN has announced that employees currently have more negotiating power. “And we see that in recent months more and more agreements have been made about nominal amounts in collective labor agreements. This mainly concerns employees who are around the minimum wage.”
In addition to a structural salary increase, approximately 1.25 million employees will also receive a monthly fixed amount that rises to 105 euros. This concerns employees in lower salary scales who work in hospitals, mental health care, care for the disabled and the motor vehicle sector.
Significant wage increases in collective labor agreement negotiations
Due to rising inflation, employers are also increasingly willing to make substantial wage increases in collective bargaining. For example, more than 110,000 construction workers will receive a 5 percent wage increase next year, the largest increase ever.
The FNV indicates that companies are turning around, but believes that wages are still lagging too far behind inflation. The union will therefore impose a significantly higher wage requirement in the coming collective labor agreement season.
According to employment lawyer Besselink, there are almost no legal conflicts when it comes to inflation. “There are hardly any procedures. As an employee you also take a risk to take your employer to court. That ultimately leads to a disrupted employment relationship.”
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