To facilitate businesses after the minimum wage increase, the government will re-implement the compensation scheme to cover the additional social security and health contributions for employees with a minimum wage.

At Friday's meeting of the Council of Ministers, the decision "On the determination of the rules, criteria and measures for the compensation of employer contributions for the additional cost, which is created as a result of the minimum wage increase" was approved.

According to the decision, the financial compensation is provided at the rate of the employer's social and health contributions, 16.7%, calculated on the difference in the salary of each employee with a gross salary, in the range from Lek 40,000 to Lek 49,999 in September 2025, with a salary of Lek 50,000. The financial compensation is provided above the average amount of the fund that would benefit an employee, in the event of no reduction in the number of employees.

The compensation will cover this additional amount for the period January-September 2026. Applications for compensation will be made through the e-Albania platform. According to the decision, entities apply electronically through the “e-Albania” portal for the period they request compensation, starting from April 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026.

Nationally, the minimum wage increased by Lek 10 thousand from January 1, 2026, reaching Lek 50 thousand.