The minimum wage in the hospitality industry is going up (again): here’s what you can expect
About 10 years ago, as a 16-year-old, you could stand at the dishwashing station for less than 3 euros an hour. If you were 21 at the time, you got 6 euros an hour to bring orders to the table. Can you imagine?! Fortunately, we’ve made huge strides since then. And we’ll keep doing so, because from July 1, 2024, the minimum wage in the hospitality industry is going up again.
In January 2024, hospitality wages also went up. At that time, the minimum wage for hospitality employees aged 21 and over became 13.27 euros per hour. From July 1, 2024, you can expect another increase, this time of (approximately) 3.1%. What does that mean in concrete terms? As a hospitality employee, you’ll earn 13.68 euros per hour from July 1. At minimum.
Statutory minimum wage
I’m deliberately saying minimum, because if you work according to the hospitality industry collective labor agreement and have negotiated your salary with your employer, it could be higher. The increase concerns the statutory minimum wage. This is the lowest amount your employer is legally required to pay you. The government adjusts the statutory minimum wage twice a year, usually in January and July. To do so, it looks at the minimum hourly wages established in the collective labor agreements.
Too bad: additional increase won’t go ahead
For a while, there was talk of an additional increase in the statutory minimum wage. In March 2024, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill to increase the statutory minimum wage by another 1.2%, on top of the 3.1%. That would have brought the hourly wage for anyone aged 21 and over to 13.84 euros. Unfortunately, no such luck: the Senate rejected the proposal. A majority voted against the plan. So the extra celebration isn’t happening.
Still, another increase is on the way. Hopefully, this will make working in the hospitality industry a little more attractive again. Because hospitality staff don’t always have it easy, dealing with insane requests from guests, bizarre staff meals and disgusting situations in the establishment. Yep, we think that pay increase is more than deserved.
Also read:
- Hospitality employees reveal: these signs in restaurants are serious red flags
- Can we please stop using abbreviations in the hospitality industry ASAP?
- These hospitality guests left their brains at home
Source: Entree Magazine
