Good news for minimum wage earners – salaries to go up
צילום: גבי מנשה
Minimum wage going up
Attorney General Mazuz rules minimum wage to be raised by 3.6 percent
The minimum wage in Israel will be raised by 3.6 percent on April 1, to a level of NIS 3,457 (about USD 700,) Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled Wednesday, ending a row between the Finance Ministry and the National Insurance Institute.
The minimum wage in the country currently stands at NIS 3,335.
In recent years, the average wage published by the National Insurance Institute was frozen until the end of 2005, thus leading to a freeze on several other figures, namely welfare payments and minimum wage among others.
However, after the Knesset was dispersed at the end of 2005, the Treasury argued the freeze should be extended until after the elections, thereby putting off the need to update the minimum wage and other government payments for another year.
However, Mazuz rejected the treasury's argument.
Meanwhile, the National Insurance Institute said the benefits it pays out will go up by 2.7 percent as a result of Mazuz's decision, with the exception of several benefits, such as pension payments, which will go up by only 1.8 percent because they were not frozen in 2005.
