Colombia to Issue Transitional Decree on Minimum Wage Hike After Court Suspension

Colombia’s government has announced plans to issue a temporary decree on the 2026 minimum wage after the country’s highest administrative court ordered a provisional suspension of the historic wage increase, throwing millions of workers into legal uncertainty.

The move follows a ruling by the Council of State, which froze a landmark 23.7% minimum wage hike introduced by President Gustavo Petro in December.

As tensions escalated, the government reconvened the Permanent Commission on Wage and Labor Policy, signalling its determination to defend the increase. Labor Minister Antonio Sanguino said the administration would comply with the court order by issuing a transitional decree but made clear that the policy direction would not change.

“We will defend to the utmost the right of workers to a living wage,” Sanguino said after a negotiating session. “The government will comply with the court’s order by issuing a new temporary decree, but we are not ruling out maintaining or even exceeding the original figure.”

The court’s intervention was issued as a “precautionary measure” following multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of the December decree. Judges questioned whether the government had fully complied with technical requirements under Law 278 of 1996, which mandates that wage increases be aligned with inflation and national productivity. The court also warned that such a steep hike could push some employers into the informal economy to avoid higher labour costs.

In a rare shift in tone, business leaders have now warned against reversing the already-implemented increase. Bruce Mac Master, head of the National Association of Colombian Businessmen (ANDI), said rolling back the wage rise would cause “unmanageable instability.”

“Although we initially warned that a double-digit increase would harm the economy, withdrawing the 23.7% rise now would create chaos,” he said, noting that workers’ rights had already been generated since January 1 and that companies had adjusted payrolls accordingly.

President Petro, in a televised address on Sunday, rejected claims that the wage hike had driven inflation, instead blaming rising prices on meat exports. He framed the court’s suspension as an institutional move against workers and called for nationwide demonstrations in defence of the policy.

“The living wage will remain in place until the new decree is issued,” Petro said. “We will meet in every public square this Thursday, February 19, at 4 p.m., to defend this historic achievement.”

The government now has eight days to publish the transitional decree, as the legal and political battle over Colombia’s minimum wage continues.