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1 January 2024: statutory minimum wage to become statutory minimum hourly wage

Publication date 31 October 2023

As of 1 January 2024, the statutory minimum wage and minimum youth wage will be increased. In addition, the minimum wage will be replaced with the statutory minimum hourly wage, which no longer depends on the extent of full-time employment. Below are the new amounts.

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As of 1 January 2024, the statutory minimum wage will become a statutory minimum hourly wage. This means, the hourly wage will no longer depend on the extent of full-time employment, as was the case until now. The minimum wage remained the same regardless of whether the employee’s full-time work week was 36, 38 or 40 hours. As a result, the amount of the minimum hourly wage varied.

The new minimum hourly wage is based on the old minimum wage for a 36-hour work week. Employees who work more than 36 hours for the minimum wage will, in practice, receive an additional wage increase as a result, on top of the regular indexation of wages.

Minimum wage

The amounts for the statutory gross minimum hourly wage for employees 21 years of age and older and the minimum hourly youth wage as of 1 January 2024 can be found in the table below. Different amounts apply to apprentices working through vocational training (bbl):

AgePercentageHourly wageHourly wage bbl
21 years and older100%€ 13.27€ 13.27
20 years80%€ 10.62€ 8.16
19 years60%€ 7.96€ 6.97
18 years50%€ 6.64€ 6.04
17 years39,5%€ 5.24€ 5.24
16 years34,5%€ 4.58€ 4.58
15 jaar30%€ 3.98€ 3.98

Part-time

Because the minimum wage will become a minimum hourly (youth) wage, it will no longer matter whether the working time is shorter than the customary working time.

More information

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