Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Albania (Ratification: 2004)

Articles 3 and 4(2) of the Convention. Criteria for determining the minimum wage and full consultations with the social partners. The Committee notes the adoption of the Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 566 of 14 July 2010 which raised the national minimum wage from 18,000 Albanian Lek (LEK) (approximately US$173) to LEK19,000 (approximately US$182) per month. The Committee also notes the Government’s indications about the equal representation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the Wages and Pensions Commission of the National Labour Council – with three members each – and the exchange of information and data among the members of the Commission with a view to making recommendations on the level of the minimum wage. The Committee recalls, in this respect, that the Article 3 of the Convention specifies the social and economic factors, such as the workers’ basic needs, the cost of living but also the unemployment rate or levels of productivity, that should be taken into consideration in determining the minimum wage while Paragraph 13 of the Minimum Wage Fixing Recommendation, 1970 (No. 135), calls for periodical surveys of national economic conditions to serve as a basis for the discussions of the tripartite consultative bodies responsible for reviewing minimum wage rates. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide more detailed explanations on the socio-economic indicators or other sources of information used by the Wages and Pensions Commission of the National Labour Council when analyzing trends and adjusting the minimum wage.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in future reports up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including, for instance, the approximate number of workers remunerated at the minimum wage rate, comparative statistics on the evolution of the minimum wage in recent years as compared to the evolution of indicators such as the inflation rate, inspection results showing the number of visits, violations recorded and sanctions imposed, and copies of official publications or studies on minimum wage policy.