Public-Sector Pay Rise Postponed Until January: One-Off Payments to Be Made in October

The pay rise for public-sector employees promised for this autumn will not go ahead due to a lack of financial resources in the state budget. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan announced this at a press conference. The prime minister publicly apologized for the postponement. “I apologize that we were unable to fulfill these commitments on time and raise salaries this autumn, as people had expected. An earlier pay rise is not possible,” Prime Minister Vasile Tofan said. To compensate for the delay, the government has decided to provide a one-off payment in October to all public-sector employees whose gross monthly salary is below 20,000 lei. The one-off payments will be distributed as follows: 4,000 lei to employees in the education sector, including management, teaching staff, and auxiliary teaching personnel; 3,000 lei to public-sector employees in social services, healthcare, defense and public order, culture, sports, justice, and public administration; 2,000 lei to technical and support staff, including security guards, cooks, and other service personnel. According to the prime minister, 560 million lei will be allocated from the state budget for these compensatory payments. Uncertainty over available budgetary resources has forced the authorities to revise the payment schedule. At the same time, the government has promised that the system-wide salary increase itself will take effect in the first quarter of next year.