How will salaries in the healthcare sector change, from years of service to working away from one’s place of residence and emergency duties

The Council of Ministers has approved a package of changes to the salary scheme and financial treatment for employees of the healthcare system, modifying the base salary, seniority bonuses, emergency and critical service allowances, as well as compensation for working away from one’s place of residence.

One of the main changes concerns the reformulation of the seniority bonus, which will now be calculated based on the position salary and will increase progressively according to years of service. Specifically, healthcare system employees will benefit from an additional 0.6% for each year of work during the first 10 years, 0.8% for 20 years, and 1% for 30 years of service. This formula aims to recognize experience and long-term commitment to the system.

The decision also provides special monthly allowances for the most critical and demanding hospital services. Doctors working in emergency departments, intensive care, hemodynamics, stroke units, and neonatology will receive an additional 18,000 lekë per month.

Meanwhile, nurses, imaging and laboratory technicians in these services, as well as doctors and nurses of pre-hospital emergency care at the National Emergency Medical Center, will receive an additional monthly payment of 12,000 lekë.

Another important element of the decision concerns payments for emergency duty and on-call service, which have been increased and differentiated according to working hours and days of the week. For 24-hour services, payments range from 2,700 lekë on regular days to 3,200 lekë on Sundays and official holidays, while specific rates are also provided for 16-hour and 12-hour systems.

The decision also reconfirms monthly compensation for doctors and technical staff who work away from their place of residence, a measure intended to address the challenges of providing services in remote areas or locations with shortages of healthcare personnel. As part of the general wage policy, the new scheme also includes a 2.5% indexation of salaries for positions in the healthcare system, as part of the annual public sector salary adjustment for 2026.

The changes also affect organizational aspects of state institutions, giving institutional heads the possibility to contract up to three external advisors, Albanian or foreign, with a monthly payment of up to 112,750 lekë after approval by the Ministry of Health.

The new decision extends its financial effects from January 1, 2026, and applies to all public healthcare institutions, including those under the Ministry of Health, the healthcare structures of the Armed Forces, the prison system, and the State Police.

“KORÇA BOOM”