Boss On A Minimum Wage

The owner and general director of the Czech company Brano Group, a vehicle parts manufacturer and car makers subcontractor, Pavel Juříček has recently made a decision to pay himself a minimum wage of CZK 8,000 a month before taxes due to present economic situation. Trade unions, naturally, expressed their admiration on account of such a move and hope that other businessmen may follow Brano’s chief.

"As a chairman of the board and the firm's owner he realizes what's happening. I don't want to advise anybody to get paid a minimum wage, but Mr Juříček's step is an important signal for employees that the crisis will not affect only people at the lowest level. He sets an example worth following, which will renew trust in the company in the hard times. Unfortunately, he has been the only one in his decision, and other Czech managers will probably continue taking bonuses like before," commented the trade union leader to Prague Daily Monitor.

Pavel Juříček, 51 now, has been administrating Brano for 13 years already. Being a minority owner in the beginning, he managed to buy out the company owned back then mostly by investment funds. It proved to be a successful strategy and since then the company’s revenue has grown tenfold. The network of own factories was built in the Czech Republic and also Brano bought some companies in Germany and Russia. In 2006 Pavel Juříček was awarded a prestigious Entrepreneur of 2006 title for successful governing his company.

Photo: Pavel Juříček (prague-tribune.cz)