The salary update for public servants It will arrive later than many anticipated, albeit with retroactive effects. The increases provided for in the new multi-year agreement signed between the Government and the union structures Fesap and STE should only be paid in February, despite relating to January salaries. The confirmation clarifies the calendar for applying the new remuneration tables and puts an end to several weeks of expectation among Public Administration workers.
According to the Lusa agency, salary processing for January was already completed when the agreement was formalized, which made the immediate application of the new remunerations unfeasible. Thus, workers will only see the increase reflected in the next month’s salary, receiving at that time the amounts corresponding to the retroactive adjustment.
The 2026-2029 Multiannual Agreement for the Valorization of Public Administration Workers establishes, for this year, a salary increase of 2.15% for public employees. The commitment includes a mechanism to protect the lowest incomes, guaranteeing a minimum increase of 56.58 euros, regardless of the percentage applied to the base salary.
This model aims to ensure that the salary update has an effective impact on lower salaries, preventing the percentage increase from translating into insignificant amounts. The measure continues the understanding reached in October 2024, now extended and consolidated over a multi-year horizon.
Although the increase is set for 2026, its practical application depends on administrative procedures that do not always follow the political calendar. According to the same source, the Government chose to concentrate several updates at a single moment, reducing the number of extraordinary processes and simplifying technical execution.
Meal allowance also increases
In parallel with salaries, the meal allowance will also be revised upwards. The daily value will rise to 6.15 euros, an increase that should occur at the same time that the salary increases are formalized. A gradual increase in value of this subsidy is also planned, with annual increases of 15 cents until 2029.
The review of the meal allowance appears as one of the new features of the agreement now signed, along with the commitment to reevaluate some specific careers in the Public Administration. The objective is to correct accumulated distortions and respond to difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers in areas considered critical.
The agreement did not have the support of all union structures, but it was sufficient to allow the Government to move forward with the planned updates, framing them within a medium-term strategy for the public service.
The expectation is that the combination of salary increases, the reinforcement of the meal allowance and the career review will contribute to greater income predictability and the overall appreciation of work in the Public Administration over the coming years.
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