Romania unveils draft public salary law: president to earn 32,800 lei by 2031, teachers protest
The draft law, published on 17 July, introduces gradual coefficient-based increases for all public officials, with the president's gross monthly pay rising from 26,527 lei to 32,800 lei by 2031, while education unions call the teacher grid a 'grave injustice'.
Draft law published
The Ministry of Labour published the revised draft of the unitary salary law on 17 July 2026, following political negotiations mediated at Cotroceni Palace. The project introduces a single pay scale for all public-sector employees, built on a reference value of 4,100 lei for December 2026 and the whole of 2027. Every salary is calculated by multiplying that reference value by a coefficient specific to each function. The coefficients rise in annual steps until they reach their final levels in 2031, replacing an earlier May draft that would have applied the full coefficients immediately.
Top officials' pay trajectory
The president of Romania receives the highest coefficient in the system. It starts at 6.47 in 2026/2027, yielding a gross monthly indemnity of 26,527 lei, and climbs to 8.00 in 2031, producing 32,800 lei. The current net indemnity of about 15,500 lei would thus grow to roughly 20,000 lei net by the end of the transition. The presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies follow a similar path: their coefficient moves from 6.17 (25,297 lei) to 7.50 (30,750 lei). Ordinary senators and deputies see their coefficient rise from 4.85 (19,885 lei) to 6.00 (24,600 lei). The prime minister's pay would increase by 1,360 lei in the first stage and reach at least 30,750 lei by 2031, while ministers would gain 950 lei initially and exceed 26,000 lei later. The general mayor of Bucharest would receive a 1,600 lei initial raise and surpass 26,000 lei by 2031.
Mayors and local officials
Mayors of small communes, those with up to 10,000 inhabitants, experience the largest relative jumps. Their coefficient starts at 3.30 and reaches 4.35 in 2031, lifting their monthly pay from about 9,200 lei to at least 17,800 lei, nearly a doubling. Mayors of county-seat municipalities would get an initial increase of roughly 1,600 lei and end up almost 4,000 lei above current levels by 2031. The draft law explicitly forbids any additional bonuses or salary supplements for public dignity functions, aiming to eliminate situations where directors or mayors earned more than the president through cumulative allowances.
Teacher salary grid
For pre-university education staff, the coefficients are far lower. A teacher with long-cycle higher education, grade I, and over 25 years of seniority would earn between 8,077 lei (coefficient 1.97) and 9,758 lei (coefficient 2.38). A debutant with the same education level starts at 7,790 lei (coefficient 1.90). Class teachers receive a supplement of 10% of the reference value, about 240 lei net. An isolation allowance for teachers in remote areas is capped at 15% of the base salary, down from the current 20%. The entire teacher grid sits below coefficient 3 on a scale that runs from 1 to 8.
- President
- 32800 lei
- Senate President
- 30750 lei
- Deputy
- 24600 lei
- Mayor (commune <10,000)
- 17800 lei
- Teacher (max grade I)
- 9758 lei
Union backlash
The Federation of Free Education Trade Unions (FSLI) and the Spiru Haret Education Trade Union Federation issued a joint statement condemning the project as a "betrayal of education." They argue it ignores Emergency Ordinance 57/2023, adopted after the 2023 general strike, which required the debutant teacher's salary to be pegged to the average gross salary and the whole grid to be built to stimulate career progression with a ratio of at least 1.47:1 between the top and the entry level.
Instead of eliminating inequities and restoring the teaching profession to the status it deserves, the project deepens salary discrimination, accentuates the lack of attractiveness of the teaching career, and condemns the education system to an even steeper decline.
The unions also point to a 2024 agreement with the World Bank and the Ministry of Labour that the maximum salary of a pre-university teacher with grade I and full seniority should equal that of a specialist doctor. They say the current draft leaves a gap of about 4,000 lei in favour of the doctor.
It is inadmissible that the maximum salary of a pre-university teacher does not even reach coefficient 3 in a scale built from 1 to 8. This hierarchy sends a clear message about how the government values the work of those who educate future generations.
The unions are asking Parliament to correct what they call a "grave injustice" before the law is adopted.
