EUR 170 million paid out in Covid-19 bonuses to health sector employees in 2021

• Published date: 30 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

RIGA, May 30 (LETA) - Last year, around EUR 170 million were paid out in Covid-19 bonuses to Latvia's health sector employees, Health Minister Daniels Pavluts (Development/For) said in an interview to Latvian Television on Monday.

The minister said that such bonuses cannot be a substitute for basic salaries and voiced hope that this fall and winter medics will no longer have to work extra hard to cope with the pandemic.

The minister indicated that medics' pay has been increased also apart from the Covid-19 bonuses. Over the past three years, EUR 364 million have been allocated for this purpose, which is the steepest increase among state-funded sectors.

In Pavluts' opinion, now is the right time to move ahead with a new pay system for...