Ligi said on Thursday in an ERR broadcast regarding teachers' and rescue workers' pay demands that rescue workers' salaries rise more than inflation or roughly at the same rate, and that those who are accommodated should not complain the most. He also noted in the program that the tone in which money is demanded is unpleasant to him.

At the same time, those who decide, among other things, on teachers' and rescue workers' pay have a guaranteed annual pay rise, because the salaries of higher‑ranking civil servants — such as members of parliament, ministers, chancellors and judges — are indexed.

"The exact size of the pay increase for higher civil servants will be determined in March 2027, when it is known what the annual growth of the 2026 consumer price index was and what the annual growth of the social tax pension insurance portion was," explained Elo Ellermaa, head of the Ministry of Finance's communications department.

The value of the salary index consists of 20 percent annual growth in the consumer price index and 80 percent annual growth in the social tax pension insurance portion.

In next year's state budget, which the Ministry of Finance will publish on Monday, the index value is forecast at 1.051.

"This means that salaries indexed with the full index for higher civil servants will rise by 5.1 percent according to the forecast, and salaries indexed with the temporarily reduced index will rise by 2.6 percent," Ellermaa explained.

She noted that because these decisions are tied to the state budget strategy, which has not been finalized, these numbers are not set in stone and may change.

The full index applies to the salaries of the president, the speaker and deputy speakers of parliament, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, committee chairs and faction chairs in parliament, committee vice‑chairs and faction vice‑chairs, members of parliament, the auditor general, the chancellor of justice, and the chair and members of the Bank of Estonia's supervisory board.

The temporarily reduced index applies until 31 March 2028 to the salaries of the prime minister, ministers, Supreme Court justices, the secretary of state, the prosecutor general, circuit court judges, county and administrative court judges, the national conciliator, and the gender equality and equal treatment commissioner.

This means that when full indexing is restored for all higher civil servants on 1 April 2028, the previous situation will return, bringing them an unusually large pay rise.

"This means that those affected by the reduced indexing will receive a larger one‑time pay increase, and salaries will reach the level they would have been at without the temporary reduction. For example, the prime minister's salary will become equal to that of the president, the speaker of parliament and the chief justice of the Supreme Court," Ellermaa pointed out.

In 2023, ERR reported that due to the temporarily reduced indexing, higher‑ranking state employees would have to settle for pay increases of one to a few hundred euros in the interim years, but in 2028 they can expect a pay rise of €1,000–€2,000.

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