Advertisement

H&M plans hefty Swiss minimum wage by 2015

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
H&M plans hefty Swiss minimum wage by 2015
Photo: Eric Piermont/AFP

Clothing retail chain H&M is planning to pay employees at its Swiss shops a minimum wage of 22 francs ($25) an hour starting next year.

Advertisement

The Swedish-owned group confirmed to the SDA news agency on Monday that it would introduce the wage on January 1st 2015.

Swiss newspapers Blick and Tages Anzeiger earlier reported the move.

H&M said a fair and proper wage policy allows it to attract the best employees.

The hourly minimum translates to a monthly wage of around 4,100 francs for a 42-hour week.

The planned wage is close to the minimum of 20 francs an hour proposed in an initiative to be decided by Swiss citizens in a May 18th referendum.

The proposal would establish the highest minimum wage in the world.

While H&M has pledged the new minimum pay it has yet to reach a collective agreement guaranteeing this amount with the union that represents its workers.

The retailer, with stores in 40 countries, earlier announced a policy of paying all textile workers a "living wage" wherever they are working in the world by 2018.

The policy affects hundreds of thousands of workers, mostly in Asia, in countries such as Bangladesh, where the minimum wage is less for two weeks than the hourly pay proposed for H&M's Swiss employees.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also