Healthcare sector employees, employers sign new collective agreement
Unions representing healthcare sector employees and employers signed a new nationwide collective agreement on Monday for the years 2025-2026, agreeing on hourly minimum wage hikes, work and rest time, professional development and occupational health provisions.
Under the new collective agreement, affected minimum wages will increase on April 1, both in 2025 and 2026.
The signatories of the agreement announced that this collective agreement will ensure stability and labor peace in healthcare, which is especially vital in these times of crisis to ensure that patients do not go without medical care.
This year's wage increase is significantly lower than what healthcare workers had expected when negotiations first began last fall. According to the agreement, medical professionals' salaries will increase by 1.5 percent this year, totaling an additional €12.2 million in budget expenses.
The collective agreement currently in force was signed in 2023, raising minimum hourly wages by nearly 20 percent that year and by another 10 percent in 2024.
In accordance with the Collective Agreements Act, the terms of the agreement are extended to all healthcare service providers whose activities are financed by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund (EHIF) or the state budget.
Agreed-upon hourly minimum wages, in euros
| job title | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| doctors | 19.67 | 19.97 | 20.96 |
| specialist doctors | 21.40 | 21.72 | 22.81 |
| nurses, healthcare support specialists | 12 | 12.18 | 12.79 |
| specialist nurses, midwives | 12.45 | 12.64 | 13.27 |
| clinical psychologists | 15.30 | 15.53 | 16.31 |
| speech therapists | 20.35 | 15.53 | 16.31 |
| emergency medical technicians (EMTs) | 10.35 | 10.51 | 11.03 |
| ambulance technicians | 10 | 10,15 | 10.66 |
| care workers | 7.60 | 7.71 | 8.10 |
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Editor: Barbara Oja, Aili Vahtla
