The legal 1-to-12 ceiling between the lowest and the highest public salary, breached at the very top of the state
Framework Law 153/2017 says that nobody paid from public money may earn more than 12 minimum salaries. At the Constitutional Court and the High Court, the rule is not respected, because of supplements.
The ROptimizaRE editorial team · 6 min read · updated 15 October 2026
In short
- The monthly public-sector wage bill reached 14.23 billion lei (October 2024), the second-largest cost in the budget after pensions[1]
- The law caps any public salary at 12 minimum salaries; the President's allowance respects the ceiling (6.75x), but at the Constitutional Court the head of the institution's gross income reaches 17.2x the minimum salary, because of supplements[1]
- The Constitutional Court president's supplements represent 35.2% of the base allowance, even though the law caps them at 30%[1]
- A World Bank study, cited in the research, identified over 140 types of supplements in the Romanian public sector; Denmark, the EU country with the largest share of public spending on staff relative to GDP, uses only 5[1]
14.23 billion lei a month
Based on the budget execution reports published by the Ministry of Finance, the monthly public-sector wage bill reached 14.23 billion lei (about 2.84 billion euros) in October 2024. Relative to the 1.3 million posts filled, that gives an average gross cost of 10,947 lei per employee, including supplements[1].
Total monthly public-sector staff cost, October 2024
14.2bn lei
Year 2024 · source[1]
Equivalent to 2.84 billion euros, for a single month.
Share of current budget spending
22.9%
Year 2024 · source[1]
The second-largest allocation, after pensions and social assistance.
For comparison, capital spending (public investment) accounted in the same period for only 8.4% of the total, and spending on goods and services for 13%. Of every 10 lei spent by the consolidated general budget, over 2 lei go to public-sector pay and over 3 lei to pensions[1].
The 1-to-12 ceiling, in theory universal
Framework Law 153/2017 sets two rules that apply to anyone paid from public money: the base salary cannot exceed 12 times the guaranteed gross minimum wage, and supplements cannot exceed 30% of the base salary. In theory the highest salary should be the President of Romania's allowance itself, which, on 30 September 2024, stood at a coefficient of 6.75 times the minimum wage (24,960 lei), below the legal ceiling[1].
Checking other institutions with public pay data, however, the research found cases where neither of the two rules is respected.
| Position | Base allowance | Ratio to minimum wage | Supplements / base | Total gross income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President of the CCR | 47,074 lei | 12.72x (limit: 12x) | 35.2% (limit: 30%) | 63,647 lei (17.2x) |
| CCR judge | 45,260 lei | 12.23x (limit: 12x) | 35.4% (limit: 30%) | — |
| President of the ICCJ | 40,914 lei | 11.05x (below the limit) | 29.99% (below the limit) | 53,188 lei (14.37x) |
| President of Romania | 24,090 lei (frozen at the 2019 level) | 6.75x (below the limit) | — | 24,960 lei |
At the Constitutional Court, both the base allowance of the institution's president and that of the judges exceed the ceiling of 12 minimum salaries before any supplement is added, and the supplements themselves in turn exceed the 30% allowed by law. From supplements alone, the CCR president receives almost 4.5 extra gross minimum salaries a month, that is 54 minimum salaries a year[1].
Over 140 types of supplements
A World Bank study, cited extensively in the research, identified over 140 types of supplements active in the Romanian public sector, of which 24 are very common. The study notes that in 2022, 40% of employees in education, health, social assistance, culture, justice and diplomacy received supplements exceeding 30% of the base salary, many of them explicitly exempted from the legal ceiling, which deepens pay inequalities within the public sector[1].
What Denmark did
Five types of supplements, not 140
Denmark, the EU country with the largest share of public spending on staff relative to GDP but with governance regarded as a benchmark, limits its public-sector supplement system to just five categories: a qualification supplement, a functional allowance, a one-off payment, a performance bonus and an availability allowance. Through the 2025–2031 medium-term Structural Budget Plan, Romania has committed to lowering the supplements ceiling from 30% of the base salary (applied in practice often to the institution's whole pay fund) to 20%, applied to the individual base salary.[1]
A documented example, not a recommendation. Every country's context is different.
Average pay above the private sector since 2015
The research cites a Fiscal Council calculation according to which, at the end of 2023, the average gross public-sector wage (8,588 lei) exceeded the average private-sector wage (7,678 lei) by 11.8%. Until 2015 the two were close; since then the average public wage has stayed consistently above the private one[1].
Sources
Primary official sources; where we use the press (only when the official document is not public) we mark it. The links lead to the original document or to the report cited (titles are translated; the documents themselves are in Romanian unless stated).
- [1]
Steluța Enache (independent researcher, economic analysis) — Public-sector pay in Romania. Reforms amid high expectations. (in Romanian) (independent study, published via edupedu.ro; it also summarises data from a World Bank study on public-sector pay)
Published 10 December 2024 · Accessed 15 October 2026 · the original document(opens in a new tab)
This is a translation of the Romanian article, which prevails. Source titles are translated for convenience; the documents themselves are in Romanian unless stated.