Countries With The Highest Minimum Wage: It is the responsibility of the government to fix the minimum wage companies are to pay their employees through the minimum wage policy. The minimum wage policy is so important because it serves as a guideline to prevent companies and government agencies from exploiting the services of their workers by way of paying them low wages.
The requirements for the determination of minimum wages in a country differ from one country to another. Conditions such as duration, expertise to determine minimum wage are being considered as a country while other countries use age grades. Also, in the process of calculating a minimum wage of a country, the final amount the employee gets, does not include both the governmental and non-governmental expenses (e.g., taxes, social insurance that accompanies a pay check).
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Meaning of Minimum Wage
The minimum wage of a country is the smallest amount in which the employers of a particular country are legally allowed to pay workers for an identified unit of work. For a minimum wage to be determined, the measure of work is always computed and determined on a per-hour or per-month basis, but in most cases, it is usually measured in a per-day or per-week rate.
The exploitation of workers prompted the utilization of minimum wages, this was to utilize the exploitation of workers in sweatshops and this came to stick as a way to prevent exploitation and to help the low income families everywhere in the world. Lots of country has introduced a minimum wage legislation by the end of 20th century.
The reasons for wage is to prevent employers cash in of or exploiting workers who are in dire need of the work , employers are mandated to pay the wage or if possible above but not below it. Wage rate is to assist workers to afford and improve their standard of living.
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Minimum wages rate has its pros and cons
Pros:
1. It Gives room for country’s economic growth: Because the worker has sufficient money to spend, there’s constant income within the system and there’s increase in demand which suggests more revenue generation.
2. High Productivity: Worker’s morale is boosted. Workers are more efficient when their needs are met and they enjoy high standard of living, because the saying goes “when the workers are taken care of, they lookout of the purchasers well“.
3. Makes the labour force attractive: For the unemployed and underage the welfare of the employed makes getting employment attractive and other people begin to enhance on themselves to be ready to get employment , this results in innovative, educated and employable citizens.
4. Increases job security and worker’s retention: as employee are satisfied with the pay and their standard of living, with knowledge of the wage staff keep their job and do not go around job hunting because the standard is that the same everywhere.
5. It helps to bridge the financial gap between the employer and employee, which results in uniform community development.
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Cons:
1. It has the tendency to increase the cost of living for the unemployed living in such areas.
2. Consistent with a study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research it was analyzed that experienced workers receive higher wages and are more hospitable to new job opportunities than those that are not. This means that there is a chance that wage may cause poverty and unemployment
3. Wage may cause the value of labour to become more expensive, small companies that are not ready to meet to the set standard are forced to fold up. More often than not, this will cause a rise in the number of the unemployed.
Minimum wage rates in countries are suffering from these subsequent factors such as GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product), Inflation, employment figures, government regulations, productivity, union bargains etc.
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Top 15 Countries Where Workers Earn Highest Minimum Wage 2024
Since different countries operate with different currencies, for the aim of taking a glance at the fifteen countries with the very best wage 2024, we’ll use the US dollars ($) as a standard. The fifteen countries with the highest wage rate in 2024 are:
1. Luxembourg: A country in Europe with a Population of 625,978 people and an percentage of 6.1 percent is that the country with the very best wage rate within the world with a wage rate of $18.33 per hour, unskilled workers earn $15.53 per hour. Luxembourg features a GDP of $62.3 billion, a GDP growth of two .3 percent and a GDP per capita of $105, 280. Her share of world GDP is 0.08 percent.
2. Australia: The second country with the very best wage is Australia with a wage rate of $15.20 per hour. a rustic with a population of 25.5 million people, GDP of $1.3 trillion, GDP growth of 1.96 percent, GDP per capita of $53, 831 and an percentage of 5.9 percent. In Australia there are different wage rate which depends on age bracket and increases together gets older. Her share of world GDP is 1.64 percent. there’s a high probability of Australia taking up the planet highest wage country from Luxembourg by the top of year 2021.
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3. New Zealand: New Zealand increased her wage rate in 2021 to $14.40 per hour to form it to the third place on the list. Although the above wage rate is for adult, an employee between the age of 16 and 18 need to work for the employer for a period of 6 months to earn at this rate. New Zealand features a population of 4.8 million, features a GDP of $204 billion, GDP growth of three .03 percent, GDP per capita of $43, 415. New Zealand has an percentage of 4.9 percent.
4. Germany: Germany features a wage rate of $12.55 per hour, despite the pandemic the wage rate of the country has been increasing, Germany may be a country in Western Europe with a population of 83.3 million, GDP of $3.7 trillion, GDP growth of two .22 percent and an percentage of 6.2 percent.
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5. United Kingdom (UK): In most European countries the wage rate depends on your age this is often therefore the case of the uk (UK). A worker got to be above the age of 23 to earn the complete wage of $12.33 per hour, workers between the age of 21 and 22 makes $11.57 per hour while the age group of 18 to twenty earns $9.09 per hour. The uk may be a country with a population of 67.9 million people, an percentage of4. 9 percent. She features a GDP of $2.6 trillion, GDP growth of 1.79 percent, and a share of world GDP of 3.26 percent.
6. France: France is the sixth country within the world with the highest minimum wage, with a wage of $12.31 per hour, France also has the simplest wage structure. France a rustic in Western Europe with Paris as it’s capital features a population of about 63.5 million people, a percentage of 7.9 percent and a GDP of $2.6 trillion.
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7. Ireland: Ireland, a rustic in Europe with a comparatively small economy, features a population of about 4.9 million people, an percentage of seven .2 percent and a GDP of $331.4 million. Ireland takes the amount 7th position in the list with a wage rate of $12.26. it’s deserve note that there are great similarities between the land law of eire which of the uk .
8. Belgium: In Belgium there is no per hour minimum wage rate but rather a monthly wage of $1953.38 with a weekly work hour of 36-40 hours. Belgium has a population of approximately 11.6 million and an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent. Note that the cost of living in Belgium is relatively low compared to most European countries.
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9. Netherlands: Netherlands also known as Holland is ranked number 9 on the list with a minimum wage of $11.68 per hour. Holland has a population of about 17.1 million, GDP of $907.1 billion, GDP growth of 3.16 percent, the country of Holland has an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent.
10.Canada: With a population of around 37.7 million people, a GDP of $1.6 trillion, and a percentage of 7.5%, Canada is ranked number 10 on the list as one of the most developed countries in North America. Canada has always been in the top ten countries with the highest salary rate. Wage rates differ in Canada’s various provinces.
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11. Monaco: Monaco is a country located in western Europe, as well as other countries, as regards the minimum wage which workers could be paid after a day’s work, or hours. The minimum wage of this country is rated per hour and it is the same as the minimum wage of France but in this case, that of France is for full-time work with a 5% adjustment.
The last time Monaco’s Minimum wage was changed was on 1st January 2016.
12. San Marino: San Marino is a country located in southern Europe, the country has a minimum wage which is set and the workers cannot be paid anything below the required minimum wage. If an employer decides to go below the already stipulated wages, such an employer may be subjected to punishment by San Marino’s government.
San Marino’s minimum wage is set at €9.74 per hour for the workers and the country’s minimum wage policy was last changed on 1st January 2014.
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13. South Korea: In South Korea, the minimum wage of the country is the lowest amount a worker is paid per hour regardless of the fact that the employee or worker is a citizen or not and regardless of the employment statute and nationality. However, there are some exceptions to this rule and such exceptions are domestic service users, relatives living in the same residence, seamen who are governed by the seamen act, and the ship owners who employ them.
The minimum wage act in South Korea was enacted on 31st December 1986, and the system came into force in January 1988. At the time the Minimum Wage Act came into force, the economy was growing massively and the minimum wage was set at 30 percent below the real workers’ pay.
For the amendment of the minimum wage, the Minister of Employment and Labour in Korea asks the Minimum Wage Commission to always review the act by the 31st of March every year and they must submit the Minimum Wage Bill within 90 days after the request to review has been received by the minimum wage commission. When no objection arises from the amendment, the new minimum wage will take effect from the next year January 1st. so far, the minimum wage in South Korea has been amended yearly and it got its highest increase in 2018 when it was increased by 16.4%.
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14. Israel: The Israeli government has a government mandated minimum wage which no worker is allowed to be paid less than, and any employer who goes against the said minimum wage (paid less than the government approved wage) may be subject to punishment by the government.
Just like most countries of the world, Israel has a nation-wide minimum wage which is 5,000 Israelis new shekel per month, the countries minimum wage was last changed in 1st July 2017.
15. Japan: Similar to the Israeli’s government, the employers who fail to pay the minimum wage or who pays below the legally required minimum wage, would be punished by the government of Japan. The Japan’s prefectural minimum wage ranges from 714 yen to 932 yen per hour for all the workers. However, the industrial minimum wage differes from the prefectural minimum wage as that of the industrial workers are higher.
Seeing that there are two conflicting minimum wage, the higher of the two wages would be applied and that is the industrial minimum wage. The Japan’s Labour law goes on to state that when the conditions of overnight work, working on holidays, overtime, and commuting, arises, temporal pay like bonus, tips, etc must be paid additionally and not excluding the normal minimu wage in the payment.
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In conclusion, regardless of the fact that almost every country in the world has a laid down rule or enactment, it does not excuses the reality that some employers still pay their workers lower than the minimum wage. The rule is there to guide the employees, to open their eyes, and take action when they are being underpaid.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.