Minimum Wage In Panama

The minimum wage is postulated as a norm of constitutional rank, which through Article 66 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama is recognized with the purpose of covering basic necessities of life, improving the level of development depending on the economic activity or region, for each profession or trade. All of the above will be developed by law and will be for the benefit of the workers.

In this sense, Article 173 of the Labor Code describes the minimum wage as: "the amount, lesser in money, to be paid by the employer to the worker, fixed per unit of time for the region, activity or profession in question". As such, the Labor Code also provides that the minimum wage shall be fixed periodically at least every two years, in accordance with the recommendation of the National Minimum Wage Commission and by decree of the Executive Branch. The above then, does not suggest that every two years a new minimum wage is fixed in a mandatory or unavoidable