Welfare Measures in Romania

As of August 1st, some 650,000 state employees benefit from higher salaries.

Daniela Budu, 01.08.2016, 13:26

More than 650,000 state employees now have salaries higher by 10%, under an Government emergency ordinance passed in early June this year. The Labour Minister Dragos Paslaru had stated back then that the Ordinance would do away with all inequities in the public payment system, with provisions to be enforced in two stages, starting August 1st 2016 and December 2017 respectively. Starting August 1st this year, 163,000 people from the health-care system benefit from increases ranging from 70 to 200 Euro.

The education sector too is now benefiting from the provisions of a new scheme, aimed at bridging the gaps in the system. Therefore, a teacher with advanced higher education and a seniority between one and six years will get a base salary of some 520 Euro, and a junior teacher will get up to 470 Euro. A university professor with 6 to 10 years seniority will get a base salary ranging between 660 and 770 Euro and will grow gradually, to eventually reach, in the case of those with over 40 years of seniority, some 1500 Euro.

According to the Ministry of Labour, in the education system only half of the new provisions get into force now, and the rest will be implemented next year. Also as of August 1st, the Romanian Government introduced a bonus system in the health-care system, depending on specialization, training and seniority. Therefore, doctors will get salaries ranging from 525 Euro to 650 Euro, and nurses between 430 Euro and 540 Euro. Doctors working for the paramedics systems or in emergency units will get up to 1200 Euro.

Provisions regarding new child rearing benefits also came into force on August 1st . The minimum cap is 230 Euro, and there is now a maximum cap as of July 1st. Benefiting from this are the parents who stay at home with their babies, providing they registered taxable incomes for a period of at least 12 months in the past two years. They will get 85% of the net income obtained in this period. And, also starting this month, the VAT drops to 9% for several agricultural products and services, such as the delivery of pesticides, seeds and fertilizers. According to statistics, more than 3 million employees, accounting for 65% of the total of 4.7 million now have net salaries below 440 Euro, which means that they are paid under the current average salary in Romania.