Minimum Wage to Rise to 2,100 Pesos per Month Starting January 1

Workers, both Cubans and resident foreigners, at joint-venture companies owned by overseas corporations and the Cuban government will be paid by their employers in Cuban pesos. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, December 11, 2020 — Among the changes to come with currency unification, the government has established new salary, pension and social benefit levels. Among the most notable is a rise in Cuba’s minimum wage, which will go from 400 Cuban pesos per month, set in 2019, to 2,100 Cuban pesos.

Salaries will be based on a sliding scale for the thirty-two groups into which state sector workers are divided. They will range from 1,910 to 2,100 depending on the hours worked per week (forty and forty-four, respectively).The top salary is set at 9,510 pesos for forty-four hours.

The Official Gazette also establishes additional payments for six groups: those who work under abnormal conditions, night shift and “mixed” workers, holders of postgraduate degrees (440 pesos in the case of masters, 825 pesos for doctorates) and those who have on job title and “hold a position with college-level demands.”

Others who will receive these benefits are workers in Caimanera, Guantanamo Province, who will get an additional 30% in the form of “economic social interest,” professionals who hold international certifications (685 pesos) and teachers in the health care sector.

However, workers will no longer receive bonus salaries for holding technical positions, working for international organizations or being in charge of business improvement in authorized business entities.

Salaries will be divided into two parts: one fixed according to the previously mentioned scale and another which varies depending on piece-rate payment systems, profit sharing plans and pay-for-performance arrangements, which already apply to construction jobs in tourism and the Mariel Special Development Zone.

Age-related and disability pensions, as well as pensions for certain segments of the Interior Ministry and the Armed Forces, will rise to 1,528 pesos for those now receiving 280 to 300 pesos; 1,733 for those collecting 449 to 500 pesos; and for the highest earners, those now getting more than 501 pesos a month, their pensions will rise to 1,528.

Another notable section is the one dealing with workers, both Cubans and resident foreigners, at public/private joint venture partnerships funded with foreign capital. Salaries will be paid in Cuban pesos by the employer, which will hire and provide personnel.

Labor costs will be split between the company and the employer based on employees’ job responsibilities. Salaries may not be less than those paid for comparable work in the state sector.

The Official Gazette also published certain specific exceptions for employees in sectors such as health, education, culture, media and sports as well as for maritime workers and municipal government personnel.

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