Increases for mayors and presidents from July 1, 2025. The government has revealed circumstantial amounts!

Since 1 July 2025 thousands of local workers in Poland can number on higher salaries. The government has published a long-awaited draft amendment of the regulation, which introduces increases for those with key positions in the local administration. The changes will include mayors, mayors, city presidents, their deputies, as well as treasurers and members of voivodships and powiats. This is simply a direct consequence to criticism from the self-government community, which was omitted in the erstwhile circular of increases.

The fresh government aims to destruct the absurd situation in which those who have the most crucial functions by choice or appointments have earned little than their subordinates employed for the employment contract. The task expects to increase the maximum basic wage and function allowances by about 5 percent. The document, prepared by the Ministry of household and Social Policy, precisely defines fresh pay forks, which will let for a realization of earnings and appreciation of the tremendous work of local community leaders. Changes will enter into force any minute, which means higher salaries will appear in local government accounts in the coming weeks.

New regulations will respond to a wave of criticism. Who was left out?

The government's decision to amend the wage rules is not accidental. This is simply a direct consequence of the controversy caused by the erstwhile amendment of May 2025. At the time, increases included a wide scope of local staff, but only those employed under the employment contract. On the another hand, the electorate (dwatts, mayors, presidents of cities, councillors) and the vocation (seniors, treasurers) were completely omitted.

This has led to many wage paradoxes. In many offices in Poland, there was a situation where the subordinates, e.g. faculty directors, began to gain more than their direct superiors – the mayors or mayors, who bear full work for the functioning of the full municipality. This triggered a wave of legitimate criticism from local corporations, which warned that specified action was demoting and undermining the authority of local authorities.

In consequence to those voices, Ministry of household and Social Policy draft amendment to the regulation on the remuneration of local staff. As highlighted in the explanatory memorandum, the aim is to "include an increase in the remuneration of all local workers", regardless of the basis for establishing a employment relationship. As a result, the fresh regulations are comprehensive and systemic in nature, eliminating erstwhile omissions.

Who and precisely how much will he gain? circumstantial wage rates

The draft regulation sets out the fresh higher rates of the basic maximum remuneration and the functional allowance. The expected increase is about 5 percent. The exact amount of the wage of the local government will depend on the decision of the applicable municipal council, powiat or seymik voivodship, which find the final amount of remuneration within the statutory forks.

Here is how the fresh maximum basic wage and the functional allowance for each post are shaping:

• President of Warsaw: up to 16 187.36 zł
• City president over 300,000 inhabitants: up to PLN 15 610
• City president to 300,000 inhabitants: up to 14 960 zł
• The mayor or mayor in the municipality over 100,000 inhabitants: up to 14 960 zł
• The mayor or mayor in the municipality from 15,000 to 100,000 inhabitants: up to PLN 14 550
• The mayor or mayor in the municipality up to 15,000 inhabitants: up to PLN 14 070
• Marshal of the voivodship over 3 million inhabitants: up to PLN 16 180
• Marshal of the voivodship to 3 million inhabitants: up to PLN 15 610
• Old age in the territory over 120,000 inhabitants: up to PLN 14 550
• Old man in the territory from 60,000 to 120,000 inhabitants: up to PLN 14 070

The increases will besides include deputies, treasurers and members of the administrative boards of powiats and voivodships. For example, a deputy marshal in the voivodship with a population exceeding 3 million inhabitants will be able to gain to PLN 15 700and the treasurer in specified voivodship to PLN 14800. Proportional increases concern all levels of government.

A fresh category for the largest voivodships. What does this mean in practice?

One of the key innovations introduced in the task is the creation of a separate sub-group of posts for marshal offices in voivodships whose population exceeds 3 million. In practice, this applies to Mazowieckie and Śląskie voivodships. This solution responds to a request made by Association of Regionals of the Republic of Poland.

The Union's argument was simple and logical: managing a region with specified a large population, with extended infrastructure and complex social problems, entails a much greater scale of responsibilities and responsibilities. To date, the rules did not differentiate marshals' salaries according to the size of the voivodship, which led to the situation where leaders of the largest regions were paid at the same level as their counterparts in much smaller units.

The introduction of the fresh category aims to reflect these differences more adequately. Higher maximum rates for marshals, their deputies and board members in the largest voivodships are intended to supply remuneration commensurate with the scope of tasks. This is an crucial step towards professionalisation of public management and appreciation of the work of the key regional leaders.

The statutory remuneration limit. That's what local government earns.

Although the fresh regulation increases the maximum basic wage and function allowance rates, it is crucial to bear in head the overriding regulation that follows straight from the Act. According to Local Workers Act, the full remuneration of the head of government shall not exceed the statutory limit.

This limit is defined as 11,2 times the basic amountwhich shall be fixed annually in the budget law. In 2025, the basic amount for persons in charge of state management positions is PLN 1 878.89. This means that the maximum possible gross remuneration that can be paid to a mayor, president or marshal – including a basic salary, a functional allowance and a peculiar allowance – is PLN 21,043.57.

This statutory ceiling aims to prevent and keep uncontrolled wage increases in the public sector. Even if the councils of municipalities or the Sejm would like to grant higher salaries, they are bound by this legal restriction. This is simply a warrant that increases, albeit significant, will stay within the framework set by national legislation.

The amendment of the Regulation is to enter into force July 1, 2025, with effect from that date. This means that local governments will be able to adopt appropriate resolutions so that workers affected by changes receive a higher wage already as part of the July payment. This is an crucial step towards organising the wage strategy in local administration and appreciating the work of its leaders.