Good news for guest workers: minimum wage in Hungary may increase drastically in 2026
Unions are proposing a 12% minimum wage rise for 2026, but employers have yet to consolidate their position, representatives of the sides told MTI after a meeting of the monitoring committee of the VKF, a forum of employers, unions and the government, on Tuesday.
Drastic minimum wage rise in Hungary?
Imre Palkovics, who heads workers’ council association MOSZ, said that MOSZ and union associations LIGA and MASZSZ were proposing a 12% increase in the minimum wage for unskilled labourers and a 10% rise in the minimum salary for skilled workers.
Under a three-year wage agreement reached in November 2024, the minimum wage was set to rise by 13% in 2026, but Palkovics acknowledged that the increase would have to be modified in light of lower-than-expected GDP growth.
Employers’ association would give less
László Perlusz, the chief secretary of employers association VOSZ, said GDP growth was expected to be 0.5% in 2025, well under the 3.4% projected in the three-year agreement. He added that VOSZ was proposing a 9% minimum salary rise, but could accept a higher increase if payroll taxes were lowered.
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Ferenc Rolek, who heads employers’ association MGYOSZ, said a 10% minimum salary rise was a possibility if the government reduced the payroll tax.
Zoltán Zs SzÅ‘ke, the chairman of Afeosz-Coop, said the retailers’ association backed a 10% increase in the minimum wage for unskilled labourers and a 7% rise in the minimum wage for skilled workers. Perlusz said there was a “good atmosphere” at the talks on Tuesday and expressed hope differences could be ironed out by early November.
Read also:
- Minimum salary in Hungary remains among the lowest in the EU
- Hungary backs off 13% minimum wage hike, eyes more modest increase
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