Impact of national minimum wages on collective bargaining and wages of low-paid groups

This research report analyses how changes to national minimum wages impact collectively agreed wages and actual wages for selected low-paid jobs and sectors. The methodology combines quantitative (econometric) and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis uses Eurofound’s database of collective agreements for low-paid workers to analyse the impact of national minimum wages on collectively agreed minimum wages and EU-SILC samples to analyse the impact of national minimum wages on actual wages. The qualitative analysis is based on case studies of Member States that differ in terms of the interactions between national minimum wages and collectively agreed wages: France, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain.