wage setter

7.3

A person, law, or thing that helps decide how much workers are paid

noun

Specialized

: determinante salarial

The minimum wage law is often viewed as a key wage setter for low-income workers.

Examples

In some countries, collective bargaining agreements serve as the main wage setter.
Central banks can act as a wage setter by influencing labor market expectations.
The wage setter influences the salary negotiations.
Many companies rely on a wage setter for guidance.
In some countries, collective bargaining agreements serve as the main wage setter.
The minimum wage law is often viewed as a key wage setter for low-income workers.
Central banks can act as a wage setter by influencing labor market expectations.

Surface Forms

wage setter singular

wage setters plural

Morphology

wage + setter

The meaning 'an entity or factor that determines wages' is directly derivable from combining 'wage' (payment to an employee) with 'setter' (one who sets) — i.e. something or someone that sets wages. This is a regular agentive/compositional formation common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Wage setter comes from the simple image of someone who fixes the level of pay: wage is pay and a setter is a person or rule that puts it in place. So a wage setter is anything, like a law, a union, or a rule, that 'sets' how much people are paid.