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Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Uruguay (RATIFICATION: 1977)

Articles 3 and 4 of the Convention. Machinery for fixing and adjusting minimum wages. The Committee notes the comments made jointly by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), the National Chamber of Commerce and Services of Uruguay (CNCS) and the Chamber of Industries of Uruguay (CIU), received on 4 July 2013 and forwarded to the Government on 11 September 2013. The three employers’ organizations express their concern regarding the manner in which minimum wages are fixed by the Higher Tripartite Council following the adoption of Act No. 18.566 of 11 September 2009. In practice, the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Labour set guidelines for the determination of the minimum wage and submit them to the Higher Tripartite Council for approval. However, they say, the government representatives generally align themselves with the workers’ representatives when voting, and the employers only have a low impact in determining the minimum wage. The IOE, CNCS and CIU add that the minimum wage does not apply to the informal sector, which represents 30 per cent of the active population, and that aspects such as the impact of the minimum wage on employment levels and the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises to pay the wage are not analysed in depth when determining the minimum wage. The Committee requests the Government to transmit any comments it may wish to make in reply to the observations of the IOE, the CNCS and the CIU.