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1. Member States with statutory minimum wages shall establish the necessary procedures for the setting and updating of statutory minimum wages. Such setting and updating shall be guided by criteria set to contribute to their adequacy, with the aim of achieving a decent standard of living, reducing in-work poverty, as well as promoting social cohesion and upward social convergence, and reducing the gender pay gap. Member States shall define those criteria in accordance with their national practices in relevant national law, in decisions of their competent bodies or in tripartite agreements. The criteria shall be defined in a clear way. Member States may decide on the relative weight of those criteria, including the elements referred to in paragraph 2, taking into account their national socioeconomic conditions.

2. The national criteria referred to in paragraph 1 shall include at least the following elements:

(a) the purchasing power of statutory minimum wages, taking into account the cost of living;

(b) the general level of wages and their distribution;

(c) the growth rate of wages;

(d) long-term national productivity levels and developments.

3. Without prejudice to the obligations set out in this Article, Member States may additionally use an automatic mechanism for indexation adjustments of statutory minimum wages, based on any appropriate criteria and in accordance with national laws and practices, provided that the application of that mechanism does not lead to a decrease of the statutory minimum wage.

4. Member States shall use indicative reference values to guide their assessment of adequacy of statutory minimum wages. To that end, they may use indicative reference values commonly used at international level such as 60 % of the gross median wage and 50 % of the gross average wage, and/or indicative reference values used at national level.

5. Member States shall ensure that regular and timely updates of statutory minimum wages take place at least every two years or, for Member States which use an automatic indexation mechanism as referred to in paragraph 3, at least every four years.

6. Each Member State shall designate or establish one or more consultative bodies to advise the competent authorities on issues related to statutory minimum wages, and shall enable the operational functioning of those bodies.