Minimum Salary Level Increased

The situation

Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum monthly salary for Short-Term Work Permit and Single Permit for Local Hire applicants has increased to HUF 195,000 for positions that require a (high school, college or university) degree or HUF 149,000 for positions that do not require a degree, up eight percent from last year.

A closer look

• Existing employees. Employers of foreign nationals currently under a Short-Term Work Permit or Single Permit for Local Hire must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule.
• Initial and renewal applications. Employers of foreign nationals seeking to obtain or renew a Short-Term Work Permit or Single Permit for Local Hire on or after January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Pending applications. Employers of foreign nationals with pending a Short-Term Work Permit or Single Permit for Local Hire applications as of January 1, 2019 must increase the foreign national’s salary to comply with the new rule. Immigration applications that do not meet the minimum salary will be refused.
• Unaffected applicants. EU Intracompany Transferee Permit (locally called Single Permit for Intra-Company Transfer) and EU Blue Card applicants are not affected by the change, as their salaries must be comparable to a local worker in a similar position.

 

Reminders on other requirements

• National average salary rate. As before, salaries for Short-Term Work Permit and Single Permit for Local Hire permit holders must be at least 80% of the national average salary for the position, determined via the national occupation classification system (FEOR number). Since salary requirements are primarily linked to national average salaries for individual positions based on the FEOR number, employers should check the FEOR-linked averages before increasing foreign workers’ salaries.

• Benefits and allowances. As before, benefits and allowances may not be included in the minimum salary calculation.

 

Background

For 2017, low-skilled salary requirements in Hungary increased by 14.9 percent; high-skilled salaries by 24.8 percent. For 2018, low-skilled salaries increased by 8.2 percent; high-skilled salaries by 12.1 percent.

Eastern European countries, such as Hungary, historically had lower minimum salary requirements for foreign workers but have recently increased these levels more aggressively than in Western Europe.

Looking ahead

Croatia, Israel, Latvia and Slovenia are expected to announce new salary thresholds in the coming weeks.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].