Public sector employees to get pay raises

Salaries of some 200,000 public sector employees will rise by an average 22 percent effective 1 January 2009. The pay raise will not be destined for administrative officials. This decision was approved at the Cabinet's meeting on Thursday, Info-Prim Neo reports. For the teachers, whose salaries rose in October by 16 percent, the raise will constitute another 13.5 percent. University lecturers' pays will rise by 19 percent, and other categories of teachers will get a raise of up to 29 percent. Starting 1 April 2009, the Government intends to afford additional gradual pay raises, by an average of 18 percent, to the teachers in pre-university education. For staff and officer corps, pay raises, by 14.3 percent on average, will come starting 1 July 2009. Staring 1 September 2009, teachers will get base pays of around 2,200 lei, which will take their total monthly payroll to minimum 3,140 lei.