Business Leaders Still Push to Reverse 2026 Minimum Wage Hike, 10 Months Later

Colombian business leaders, represented by the National Federation of Merchants and Business Owners (Fenalco), are still pushing to overturn a decree that raised the minimum wage by 23.7% in 2026. This comes ten months after President Gustavo Petro decreed the increase. The business association, Fenalco, argues that the government ignored legal rules when setting the wage and used the "living wage" concept, which they claim is not legally mandated.

They question the government's use of the International Labour Organization's criteria for calculating the raise, which they believe should have followed Colombian law's parameters such as inflation, productivity, and economic growth. Fenalco claims around 772,340 jobs are at risk due to the wage increase and fears it could lead to informality, higher prices, and difficulty in creating formal jobs.

The business leaders argue that the increase was politically motivated, as the right-wing opposition initially opposed it but later deemed it unfeasible to reduce an income that millions of workers were already receiving, especially considering the 2026 elections. The dispute began on December 29, 2025, when Petro announced the wage hike.

Initially, the government suspended the decree and ordered a new regulation with a proper legal justification for the increase, but the government responded by maintaining the same salary level and percentage. Fenalco reiterates its request for the decree's nullification, aiming to clarify the legal rules for minimum wage determination in 2027.