The increase in salaries for officials is not anticipated: bonuses will be cut and salary rules will be rewritten

The increase in salaries for officials is not anticipated: bonuses will be cut and salary rules will be rewritten

In Ukraine, bonuses for officials will be reduced and limited to no more than 30% of the basic salary. The system for determining salaries for officials will also be reviewed, and some vacant positions will be cut. At the same time, despite numerous manipulations on social media, there are no plans to increase officials’ salaries.

The reform is expected to launch on April 1, 2025. The bill has already passed both readings in the Verkhovna Rada but has not yet been signed by the speaker and the president. This is the European integration bill No. 8222 on reforming the salaries of civil servants. The Verkhovna Rada approved it in the second reading on March 11, 2025, with 259 votes (see the roll-call vote below on this page).

The initiator of the document is the Cabinet of Ministers. The bill has been registered in the Rada since 2022. The document passed its first reading on July 28, 2023, at which time the preparation for the second reading was extended.

The bill is one of the "beacons" of the European Ukraine Facility assistance program, with a deadline in the first quarter of 2025. This was also reminded earlier by the head of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada on state governance issues, Olena Shulyak. "Each tranche is not just assistance, but a reward for fulfilled obligations," she explained.

According to Shulyak, the document sets a series of updated rules. In particular:

• introduces unified approaches to civil servant salaries through position classification;
• introduces a grading system (payment based on the level of complexity and responsibility);
• reduces allowances and bonuses, so that the base salary constitutes a larger part of the salary (70/30 model);
• optimizes the number of civil servants (reduction of vacant positions).

At the same time, the document does not provide for salary increases for officials, assured the MP. "This is a framework law that only standardizes salary issues, and it is one of the requirements of the Ukraine Facility. And most importantly: there have been no changes to the state budget, and thus, no additional expenses on officials’ salaries," Shulyak explained.

Instead, according to her, this bill is supposed to establish new principles regarding salary payments. Primarily, to cut bonuses and allowances.

What the 8222 bill changes regarding civil servant salaries

The bill, as noted in the "Judicial-legal newspaper," establishes two main types of employee salaries. This includes "stable earnings," to which the salary, seniority allowances, and rank allowances apply, and "variable earnings," which includes bonuses for annual performance evaluations, as well as monthly and quarterly bonuses.

The total amount of bonuses a civil servant may receive throughout the year cannot exceed 30% of their annual stable earnings. The amount of the monthly bonus cannot exceed 30% of the base salary for the actual time worked during the month for which the bonus is paid.

Meanwhile, the amount of the quarterly bonus is limited otherwise. It cannot exceed 90% of the base salary for the actual time worked during the quarter for which the bonus is paid.

A separate category is guarantees and compensatory payments. They do not fall under any type of salary and include, in particular, compensation for work that involves access to state secrets, material assistance for social and living issues, and monetary aid granted with the annual main vacation.

The law regulates not only bonuses but also the salaries themselves. The minimum salary in state agencies, whose jurisdiction extends to one or more districts, cities, districts in cities, if the law is passed, will be no less than 2.5 times the subsistence minimum, which is no less than 7,570 UAH as of 2025.

Overall, salary scales are established considering the catalog of typical positions and criteria. It is also noted that they should be comparable to compensation levels for similar positions in the private sector. "Comparison of remuneration levels on typical government service positions with those in the Ukrainian private sector is conducted annually by the National Agency of Ukraine on Public Service during the drafting of the salary scheme," according to the new rules.

Bill 8222: Roll-call Vote Results