The State Duma announced the impact of the increase in the minimum wage on the growth of salaries of most workers

Starting from January 1, 2026, a 20% increase in the minimum wage in Russia will immediately affect the salary increase for most employees. This was announced on September 24 by Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans' Affairs.

According to the deputy, when the wages of an unskilled worker at a lower level are increased, the entire basic tariff rate increases. Thus, an increase in the lower threshold may lead to an increase in the pay ratio for higher-level employees.

"As a rule, an unskilled specialist with a standardized working day works at the lowest salary. <...> It can be a technical cleaner of premises or a janitor — someone unqualified. We have a tariff schedule or staffing table. We can't put an engineer and an unskilled worker in the same category," she said. Lenta.Ru .

In a conversation with the Zvezda TV channel, Bessarab added that the increase in the minimum wage would affect everyone's salaries, since it was not possible to differentiate between the salaries of employees at the level of 100-150 rubles between an engineer and a cleaner.

"Large companies, as a rule, raise the salaries of their employees across the entire tariff range. Basic salaries, basic tariff rates, who works according to which wage system. Nevertheless, it will affect a large number of people. There are about 5 million people in the most minimal implementation," the deputy believes.

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Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced earlier that day that the minimum wage in Russia will increase by more than 20% from January 2026 to 27,093 rubles. At the same time, the indexation of the minimum wage will continue, he stressed. According to the chairman of the Russian government, an increase in the minimum wage will contribute to an increase in salaries for 4.5 million people.

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