The Minimum Wage Far from Tunisian Social Reality!

The minimum wage in Tunisia, known as SMIG for 48 hours, including transportation allowances and attendance bonus, is 497.456 TND.

So, the minimum wage starting from October 1, 2022, is 459.264 + 36.112 + 2.080 = 497.456 TND, which is barely 157 euros!

The minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek has increased to 390.692 dinars. It's worth noting that the attendance bonus of 2.080 TND, equivalent to 0.66 euros, has not been increased for several years (since 2012).

The increase in the minimum wage for a 48-hour workweek is just 29.952 TND, representing an increase of only 7% compared to an inflation rate of over 9% (specifically 9.2%) as of the end of October 2022. Considering that the minimum wage has not been raised for 2 years, the purchasing power of the poor has decreased by about 8.5% over two years.

The increase in the minimum wage necessitates an update of payroll calculations by adjusting the ceilings for social deductions that are linked to the SMIG for 48 hours (such as deductions related to meal vouchers, deductions related to school allowances, pilgrimage bonus, etc.) as well as the ceiling related to CAVIS (6 × SMIG 48H).