Moldovan parliament speaker explains salary reform: “Ending disparities between institutions and setting a clear salary hierarchy”

Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu has explained the main goals of the new salary law, He noted that the reform aimed to eliminate wage discrepancies that had accumulated over the years between state institutions and to establish a unified and fair remuneration system.

According to Grosu, over time salary increases were provided selectively to certain institutions, which created imbalances and led to employees migrating toward better-paid positions.

“We have had distortions over the years in the funding or setting of salaries across different institutions. At a certain point, it was considered urgent to increase salaries in a specific institution, such as the Constitutional Court, the Central Electoral Commission or the Audiovisual Council. This created disparities in the system. People moved from one institution to another and all sorts of artifices, bonuses and other payments had to be invented. You saw that some went completely overboard with bonuses,” Igor Grosu said.

The speaker noted that the draft prepared by the Finance Ministry seeks to introduce a clear hierarchy of positions and to reduce the number of salary grades.

“What this reform is trying to achieve is to establish a hierarchy within the system. The reform targets the Parliament, the Presidency and other state institutions. The salary grades are reduced to ten. Ideally, there would be even fewer, but this must be done gradually,” Grosu said.

Referring to the changes affecting MPs, the parliament speaker said that some allowances would be included in the basic salary, including those meant for parliamentary assistants.

“The allowances for assistants will be incorporated into the salary. The MP will no longer have an assistant and will have to manage on their own. Other payments, such as those for transport and other compensations, will also be included in the salary,” he stated.

Igor Grosu stressed that the draft was only at the beginning of the consultation and debate process and urged that discussions focus on the efficient working of state institutions.

“Whether it is a lot or a little, of course we need to discuss. We are only now entering the debate phase. Let us think about the institutions that must work in this state,” the parliament speaker concluded.

The Finance Ministry has launched public consultations on the draft reform of the public sector pay system, which aims to create a system based on equity, predictability and performance.

The authorities emphasize that the reform brings benefits to all salary categories, including in such areas as education, social assistance, health care, public order and other essential sectors, through income increases, strengthening of the fixed part of the salary and a clearer recognition of individual performance in remuneration.

Among the main provisions, the draft provides for the consolidation of the basic salary (about 70 per cent of monthly income) and a clear definition of the criteria for providing bonuses. At the same time, by reconfiguring the reference values (indicators used to calculate salaries in the public sector: 4,200; 4,700; 5,100; 5,300; 6,200; 6,900 lei) and reducing their number from 10 to 6 by 2027 and to a maximum of 4 by 2032, the reform will clarify the components of the monthly salary and strengthen the role of the basic salary.