At yesterday's ninth session of the Economic and Social, the trade unions and employers gave a green light to the Draft-law on minimum wage, which will immediately enter Government procedure. The defined percentage of the minimum wage is 39,6% of the average wage from the previous year, by which the minimum wage will follow the dynamics of wages in the country, which, in essence, means that salaries will increase alongside with the increase of the average. "The minimum wage amount does not include extras, meaning that if the employee works overtime, in shifts or on duty, including the bonus for work experience, all of those should be additionally paid out", stated Minister of Labor and Social Policy Spiro Ristevski. Employers who fail to meet the legal provisions will have to pay rigorous fines also proscribed by this law. Wages in the low-income branches textile, leather, and garment industry will be harmonized in the following 3 years, as agreed, in the following manner proscribed by law: minimal wages in these sectors will amount to at least 79.6% in 2012, 86.4% in 2013 and 93.2 % in 2014, until they reach the national minimum wage valid for all branches.