The minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that can be paid to an employee for a certain period worked.
The minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that legislation stipulates that can be paid for a specific period of work (month, day, week or hour). Thus, no employer can offer a worker a payment that is below the minimum wage, as this would be violating the law .
The Latin word salarĭum came into our language as salary . The concept is used to name the remuneration that an individual receives periodically for performing a certain job. The word salary derives from salt: in ancient times, salt was very valuable and was used as a means of payment .
Minimum , on the other hand, is a very small quantity or magnitude, such that there is no other smaller one of its kind .
Origins of the minimum wage
The origins of the minimum wage date back to the 19th century in countries such as New Zealand and Australia . The purpose of this legal provision is to prevent the contractor from abusing his employee and paying him very low amounts.
It was specifically in Victoria , a state in Australia, where the regulation of this concept was carried out for the first time, more precisely in the Employers and Employees Act of 1890 (whose original name is Employers and Employees Act ). It arose as a result of various protests by workers to demand that a minimum wage be established legally.
Since that time, many similar movements , led by unions, workers and other similar groups, have actively participated in the legalization of the minimum wage in almost all regions of the world, although the results have not been the same for everyone. In an ideal case, thanks to the determination of this amount, any employee knows that they will be able to buy a house, feed themselves adequately, keep their home in good condition, and take care of all the individuals under their care in the same way.
In theory, the minimum wage guarantees the worker access to a decent life.
Access to a decent life
For married workers with children, the minimum wage must guarantee that everyone in their family will have access to a decent life , to a house in good condition to withstand inclement weather, to a healthy and complete diet in terms of nutrients refers to education; This last point is one of the most important, since it is about training that includes all levels, including university, taking into account the necessary expenses for the acquisition of supplies and textbooks, uniforms and travel.
The standard of living of workers increases when a minimum wage is implemented accompanied by a maximum number of hours for the working day and for the total amount of work within a week. In many countries, these values are around 8 and 40 hours, respectively. Contracts outside the law are very common and offer generally inferior conditions , although they more frequently affect working hours than wages (as employers do not pay the amount stipulated by law for each employee, they can give part of that money to workers).
The minimum wage and the law
Suppose that, in country X , the minimum wage is set at 10 currency units for each hour worked . This means that no worker can receive less than that amount of money for each of the hours they work. If a person earns less than this amount, the employment relationship they have with their employer will be outside the legal limits.
Typically, the amount of the minimum wage is updated periodically according to changes in macroeconomic variables . If there is inflation , for example, the minimum wage must increase so that the worker does not lose his purchasing power.