Australia, Netherlands Increase Minimum Wage

Across the world, minimum wages aim to protect workers’ pay to ensure an income that provides them with a standard of living. For example, in India, there isn't a single national minimum wage; instead, minimum wages are set by individual states. Both Australia and the Netherlands have increased their minimum wage as of 1 July 2025.

Minimum Wage Increases in Australia

In Australia, the Fair Work Commission’s Annual Wage Review 2024-25 has resulted in increases to the national minimum wage (NMW) and modern award minimum wages for those who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement. The Fair Work Commission’s decision comes amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures and aims to support the real value of wages, especially for lower-paid workers.

Effective 1 July 2025, the NMW has increased by 3.5%, bringing it to AUD$24.95 per hour, or AUD$948 per week for a full-time employee working a 38-hour week. Award minimum wages increase by 3.5%. Modern award minimum wages have also increased by the same percentage, affecting a wide range of employees covered under industry-specific or occupation-specific awards.

Employers must ensure that employees are paid at least the higher of the applicable award rate or the NMW. To calculate the applicable NWM for your organisation, the Fair Work Ombudsman offers a pay calculator to ensure compliance.

The increase applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2025.

Minimum Wage Increases in the Netherlands

The Netherlands has also raised its statutory minimum wage levels as of 1 July 2025. Unlike some countries with hourly minimum wages, the Dutch system establishes minimum wage amounts per hour only. The applicable minimum wage for the pay frequency (e.g., per week or month) will depend on the number of working days and hours.

For full-time employees aged 21 and over, the statutory minimum hourly wage increased to €14.40. For a full-time (40 hours per week) employee paid with a fixed monthly salary, the gross minimum monthly salary is €2,469. In addition, youth minimum wages have been adjusted proportionally for employees aged 15 to 20. For example:

• 20 years: €11.52
• 19 years: €8.64
• 18 years: €7.20
• 17 years: €5.69
• 16 years: €4.97
• 15 years: €4.32

These increases are in line with the Dutch government’s semi-annual adjustments to maintain minimum wage levels in step with inflation and wage developments. Minimum wage has an impact on statutory benefits (such as statutory pension, unemployment benefits) and salaries as part of a Collective Labour Agreement.

Important Actions to Consider

Staying current with the applicable minimum wage for the country payroll in scope for your organisation is essential for ensuring local compliance. The minimum wage impacts several aspects of payroll, including:

• Pay policies (often managed by HR or Total Rewards) — should reflect the minimum wages, ensuring that actual pay to employees is at least the minimum statutory level. This usually applies to any type of employee, whether salaried or hourly, and impacts other pay policies and benefits such as salary sacrifices, overtime compensation, sick pay, and allowance. Payroll should look to raise this with HR to review salary plans and pay policies, and if required, make the updates to systems, processes, and employee documents.
• Payroll processes — often include pre-processing of data, especially those that have high volumes of time tracking. The evaluation of turning worked time into pay should be updated in the applicable platforms to reflect the correct base pay (updated to the new applicable minimum wage) and multipliers.
• Local rules and regulations (such as in the Netherlands) — may require the payslip to display the applicable minimum wage. This requires updates to the payroll software in collaboration with a payroll (service or software) provider. Close collaboration, including potential end-to-end testing of new updates, is crucial.

Given the broader economic pressures and evolving statutory wage landscapes, proactive compliance remains critical to avoid underpayment risks and associated penalties, employer branding, and audits.

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Max van der Klis-Busink, MCIPP, RPP, is the Owner of Passion For Payroll and Vice President of Global Strategy on PayrollOrg’s Board of Directors.