2016 New Minimum Salary

Guatemala 2016 Minimum Salary

As it is usual now every starting of the year the government fixes the new legal minimum salary for the year.. It is divided between Farm and Non Farm Activities Q 81.87 per day  and Exportation activities and maquila is Q 74.89 per day.

The one that interest the expat community which hires employees is the first one..

Because 2016 is a bisextyle year meaning February will have 29 days.. There for the calculation of the minimum salary is as follow

Q 81.87 x 366 days = Q 29,964.42 divided by 12 month = Q 2,497.04 plus the Q 250
of " the bonificacion incentivo."

The minimum to be paid being Q 2,747.04

Now remember that it is not only what the worker will receive as you will have to pay in July the Bono 14 and in December the Aguinaldo..

So if you prorate these 2 extra months your worker will receive average per month Q 2,913.20.

Now the basic food basket for a family of four is estimated at Q 3,507.60, which is the amount per month that a family of four should receive to live correctly .  It is a fact as well that outside the big cities the cost of living is lower.

Currently there is a new law allowing differentiate salaries in 4 Municipalities of Guatemala : to name them Masagua Escuintla, Guastatoya and San Agustin Acasaguastlan, El Progreso and Estanzuela Zacapa. Where the minimum salary for maquila will be Q 1,677.00 plus bonificacion incentivo of  Q 250.00 making a total of Q 1,927.00 by month.

There is an ample debate in the country about these differentiated salary as some a in favor of them to stimulate local jobless economy and others considering that it creates citizen of 2d class... This country is in great need of political policy on work, employment as most of the time the government solved temporary the need to increase the salary through decrees like the one of bono 14, aguinaldo, bono incentivo.. instead of defining a modern, flexible salary policy.