How many medics actually benefit from minimum wage increases? Ministry data released
- Law and Justice MPs asked the Ministry of Health about the median salary of doctors and nurses in hospitals and the percentage of medics who were affected by the July salary increase.
- According to published data, this year 65% of doctors with specialization working under an employment contract were eligible for the minimum wage increase, slightly more than half of those without specialization, and 90% of nurses with a bachelor's degree or secondary education and specialization.
- The median salary for specialist doctors at the beginning of this year was PLN 19,890, PLN 15,500 for doctors without specialization and PLN 13,400 for nurses with a master's degree and specialization (employment contracts).
The Ministry of Health is analyzing options for regulating contractual agreements signed by hospitals with physicians. The Ministry presented the proposed solutions to representatives of the social sector during the July meetings of the Tripartite Team for Healthcare.
The previous ministry leadership proposed that physicians could be employed under a contract, but only on the condition that they work at least half-time (or, in the case of a contract other than an employment or service relationship, the equivalent of no less than half-time). At the same time, talks are underway regarding changes to the so-called Pay Raise Act, which guarantees annual minimum wage adjustments for medical professionals.
In an interpellation to the Ministry of Health, MPs Anna Gembicka and Jarosław Sachajko asked how a potential contract regulation would impact the availability of medical services for patients and whether Poland could afford such staffing restrictions. They also wanted to know the median salary of doctors and nurses in recent years and the percentage of medical professionals affected by this year's July salary increase.
In response, Deputy Minister Tomasz Maciejewski stressed that analyses regarding the issue of regulating contracts are only at the initial stage and are based on dialogue conducted within the Tripartite Team for Healthcare.
- A comprehensive assessment of the effects of the proposed solutions will be carried out at a later stage of work, when, after obtaining the opinion of the social dialogue partners, the form of possible legislative changes will be shaped - he noted.
At the same time, he assured that the ministry is taking many actions aimed at educating an appropriate number of specialists and presented the median earnings on employment contracts for doctors and nurses (salary data collected by AOTMiT).
Deputy Minister Maciejewski also indicated how many doctors and nurses employed in hospitals were affected by minimum wage increases in recent years, as well as the median earnings under employment contracts. The table shows that the following were eligible for minimum wage increases (AOTMiT data):
in July 2023
- 11,955 doctors with specialization, which constituted 70% of people from this group employed under an employment contract;
- 6,023 doctors without specialization, which is 59% of the full-time employees in this group,
- 20,595 nurses with a master's degree and specialization ( 97% );
- 39,063 nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization ( 91% );
- 46,183 nurses with secondary education ( 95% );
in July 2024
- 11,469 doctors with specialization ( 67% );
- 14,858 doctors without specialization ( 99% );
- 28,597 nurses with a master's degree and specialization ( 98% );
- 37,724 nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization ( 88% );
- 43,368 nurses with secondary education ( 94% );
in July 2025
- 12,477 doctors with specialization ( 65% );
- 10,637 doctors without specialization ( 54% );
- 39,726 nurses with a master's degree and specialization ( 98% ),
- 41,534 nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization ( 90% ),
- 43,791 nurses with secondary education ( 94% ).
The Deputy Minister also pointed out that it is important to remember that the minimum basic salary resulting from the employment contract in most of the above cases is not equivalent to the total gross salary of employees or to the total general salary in cases where medical professionals also use other forms of employment.
The median gross salary for the employment contract of those employed in hospitals belonging to the PSZ network, i.e. the middle value, which shows that half of the employees earn below this amount and the other half above, was for the individual groups (AOTMiT data) in:
- February 2023 - PLN 15,579 for doctors with specialization; PLN 11,749 for doctors without specialization; PLN 10,688 for nurses with a master's degree and specialization, PLN 8,598 for nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization, PLN 7,792 for nurses with secondary education;
- February 2024 - PLN 17,649 for doctors with specialization, PLN 13,904 for doctors without specialization, PLN 11,977 for nurses with a master's degree and specialization, PLN 9,664 for nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization; PLN 8,732 for nurses with secondary education;
- February 2025 - PLN 19,890 for doctors with specialization, PLN 15,591 for doctors without specialization; PLN 13,464 for nurses with a master's degree and specialization, PLN 10,908 for nurses with higher or secondary education and specialization; PLN 9,826 for nurses with secondary education.
Importantly, these data refer only to employment under an employment contract in hospitals belonging to the PSZ network and have been reduced to full-time employment.
The data available to the Agency relates to individual employees in a given form of employment and at a given entity. As the Ministry of Health explains, it does not indicate the total remuneration of a given person in the case of employment in more than one entity or in additional forms of employment other than an employment contract. The full response to the inquiry is available HERE.
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