Of 1.35 million public employees, 1.1 million have seen their base salary overtaken by the minimum-wage increase announced on Monday. Some civil servants will thus see their pay rise.
The Minister for Public Accounts, David Amiel, confirms an increase in the lowest civil-service salaries. On average, the employees concerned receive 350 euros gross more per year.
This adjustment follows Monday's announcement of the rise in the minimum wage to 1,502 euros net per month. The law prohibits paying an employee below the legal minimum wage.
The issue is both mechanical and social. When the minimum wage rises faster than the index point, the base pay of the lowest grades, particularly in category C, temporarily falls below that threshold.
The State must then raise the differential allowance, the compensation paid to employees whose income remains below the legal minimum.
The executive has nevertheless ruled out a general increase. It has announced a freeze, for a fourth consecutive year, in the value of the index point, on which the base pay of public employees is calculated.
The situation deteriorates a little further with each new increase in the minimum wage: the legal floor moves further from the bottom of the pay scale as long as the point remains frozen.
The measures announced this week, between Monday and Friday, concern both the minimum wage and the civil service. They will not go unnoticed in the budget.
This extra cost stems mainly from the civil service. It also stems, according to the minister, from the effect of the minimum-wage increase on a number of other expenditures.
David Amiel had notably cited a constrained budgetary context to rule out a general increase.
The public deficit is expected to reach 5.4% of GDP in 2026. The pay of some employees is therefore rising without the frozen value of the index point being raised.