Union of Employers wants lower mandatory levies instead of bonuses

The Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) has criticised the Government's proposals concerning increases in bonuses for employees, as it believes the state should also share the favourable macroeconomic situation with employees. The proposal to increase night and weekend work bonuses is a part of the Government's social package. MPs for the governing Smer-SD party are pushing it through Parliament via an amendment to the Labour Code. Employers expect this measure to cost companies about €1 billion due to the increase in the total labour price. The Union of employers has come up with four measures that would contribute to more significant wage growth for people than the one proposed by the Government in its social package. The proposals chiefly concern reducing the tax burden of employees. The first one regards increasing the non-taxable part of the tax base to the level of the minimum wage. The next measure involves increasing a deductible sum from health-insurance levies to the level of the minimum wage. It also proposes lowering VAT on all foodstuffs to 10 percent. The last measure is the introduction of an exemption on levies and income tax to be paid from increased bonuses.