ZAGREB, March 28, 2020 – Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrović has said that by Friday, 43,000 employers sought assistance as part of the government’s first set of measures designed to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy, asking the state to pay the minimum wage for 253,000 employees.
Asked if he was surprised by the large number of applications, the minister said in an interview with RTL that initial estimates had predicted that minimum wages would be sought for around 500,000 workers.
He recalled that between four and six billion kuna would be ensured for those wages.
“We are glad that payments started already on Wednesday, which means that the Employment Service has been dealing with applications swiftly… we believe that it is important that the right to be paid the minimum wage be granted to everyone meeting the set conditions by the time when March wages have to be paid,” the minister said.
He also noted that the government’s second set of measures designed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economic sector would not include tax write-offs or the write-off of contributions.
More coronavirus news can be found in the Lifestyle section.
