Public sector employees with gross salary below 20,000 lei to receive one-off payment in October

Public sector employees with a gross salary below 20,000 lei will receive a one-off payment in October. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan made the statement today.

Thus, employees in the education sector – management staff, teaching staff and auxiliary teaching staff – will receive 4,000 lei each.

Public sector employees in the fields of social protection, national defence and public order, health (budgetary institutions), culture, sports, justice and public administration will receive 3,000 lei each.

Public sector employees in the technical sector will receive 2,000 lei each.

“It is important that we come with this financial compensation to help public sector employees,” said Vasile Tofan.

To provide the one-off payment, 560 million lei will be allocated from the state budget. At the same time, Vasile Tofan announced that the salaries of public sector employees will be increased starting 1 January 2027.

“Teachers deserve higher salaries. And not only teachers. Firefighters, police officers who ensure public order, soldiers who defend the country, medical assistants, social workers and people working in culture as well. From 1 January we are coming with the promised salary increases. Until then, we must partially correct this delay and we will provide, in October, a one-off payment for all public sector employees who have a gross salary below 20,000 lei,” noted Prime Minister Vasile Tofan.

According to the Prime Minister, the Wage Law aims to correct inequalities in remuneration and to ensure sustainable, long-term salary growth. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan acknowledged that the initially announced deadline, September, will not be met. He explained that, in the meantime, economic and energy shocks in the region have put additional pressure on the budget, and the tax reform needed to create additional sustainable revenue was adopted later than planned. Under these conditions, the Government needs a few extra months to secure financing and to implement the new pay scale in a responsible and sustainable way.

“We recognize people’s discontent and the fact that objective reasons cannot be a sufficient justification. On behalf of the Government, I apologize for not being able to honour the promise to increase wages this autumn. I guarantee that from 1 January 2027 the new pay scale will enter into force and salaries in the public sector will increase. This is a firm commitment, for which we are ensuring the necessary financial coverage and preparations,” said Tofan.