The government has approved the 4.4% rise in the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI)which will rise from 1,134 euros to 1,184 euros gross per month. This is equivalent to an increase of 50 euros per month, adding a total of 700 euros per year, placing the minimum annual wage at 16,576 euros gross. In addition to the salary increase that must be reflected in the next payroll, the workers will receive An extra in the form of up to 58.33 euros.
Those 58.33 euros that, on average, must receive the workers who receive the SMI are due to the fact that this increase is retroactive with effect from January 1. This is because the law is retroactive, which means that it also applies to past situations, even before approval.
According to estimates by the Ministry of Labor, near 2.5 million workers will benefit of the increase in the minimum interprofessional salary for this 2025, of which approximately one third are women and young people. These people, having no labor agreements, makes any rise in the base salary directly impact their purchasing power. A clear example is that of household employees, a mostly female sector where the minimum wage is usual. It also occurs in other sectors, such as agriculture, where many workers receive this salary.
The new increase in the minimum wage is public in Royal Decree 87/2025, of February 6, which can be consulted in the Official State Gazette.
How much money the workers will receive with the extra
The workers who charge the minimum wage will be reflected in their payroll of February the rise corresponding to January, ensuring Not receiving less than 1,184 euros Brutes in 14 payments or 1,381.33 euros if they are in 12 payments. As the climb was not applied in January, in February they will receive a extra between 50 and 58.33 euros grossdepending on whether they charge in 12 or 14 payments.
Now, in some workers they may not notice an increase in their salary due to absorbable pluses. This practice causes companies to use existing salary accessories to comply with said increase in the minimum wage, making the total salary increase. That is, if the base salary plus the accessories already exceeds the new SMI, the company can adjust the salary structure without really increasing the worker’s final salary.
This practice can harm the workers, since, although it guarantees that the salary meets the legal minimum, it does not always be a real increase in their income. For example, if a worker has a base salary of 1,134 euros and receives a complement of 54 euros for the night shift, with the SMI rise to 1,184 euros he would only see an increase of 4 euros in its total salary, since the company It could absorb part of the complement to reach the new minimum.
This rule is collected in article 26.5 of the Workers’ Statute. Even so, we must remember a judgment of the Supreme Court of April 14, 2010 (STS 2479/2010) which establishes that the Compensation and absorption can only be applied to homogeneous remuneration and they must analyze case by case. This means that not all salary concepts can be absorbed, especially those that are personal complements not linked to specific results or conditions of work.