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Minimum wage front: teachers' right to a high salary will be proved through the court
Teachers are closely following the lawsuit against the Khabarovsk administration, which concerns the requirement to amend the decree on the remuneration system for teachers in the city. We are talking about the salary part of the salary. According to the law, teachers should have at least the minimum wage based on the base rate, but in Khabarovsk, the decree sets the salary at only 12.2 thousand rubles. And this situation is not unique — if successful, a court precedent may be important for many regions. For more information, see the Izvestia article
Last week, consideration of a lawsuit against the Khabarovsk City Administration on amendments to Resolution No. 4860 of December 21, 2021 began. This document is a regulation on the remuneration system for employees of municipal educational organizations in the city. And, according to the applicants, it is illegal, because the salary of a teacher in Russia should not be lower than the minimum wage, and in Khabarovsk, by this decree, the salary of teachers of the fourth qualification level (that is, teachers themselves) is set at 12,247 rubles.
In the statement of claim, the salary for teachers is required to be set at least at the minimum wage level of 22,440 rubles for 2025 (from 2026 — 27,093 rubles).
This trial has been separated into a separate proceeding from the case concerning the payment of wages to Ekaterina Agoshina, a teacher at the Zvezdny Lyceum in Khabarovsk. So far, the courts of various instances have taken her side in the salary dispute. At the end of January, Agoshina's case will be considered by the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. It is also possible to confirm the position of teachers that the salary should not be lower than the minimum wage.
However, if there have been salary disputes for individual teachers before, now, for the first time, it is the amount of salary set by the administration's resolution that is being challenged in court. Other teachers join the lawsuit, as well as the Teacher trade union, its Khabarovsk branch.
Oleg Samsonov, a private practice lawyer who is leading the case, stressed that this is a systemic problem that exists in a large number of regions. Their authorities refer to the fact that setting teachers' salaries is the responsibility of the regions. However, the lawyer emphasizes, back in September 2024, the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 09/23/2024 No. 40-P fixed that teachers' salaries cannot be lower than the minimum wage.
The Khabarovsk administration told Izvestia that they consider the plaintiffs' claims unfounded and unsatisfactory. The salary was set by the administration based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Khabarovsk Territory. The city administration also believes that the resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation No. 40-P does not at all "provide for the establishment of salaries for teachers in an amount equal to the minimum wage," and according to the law "On Education" this is the competence of the subject of the Russian Federation.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned decision of the Constitutional Court dealt with the situation when the salary of a teacher in the Arkhangelsk region was brought up to the minimum wage due to the fact that various increasing coefficients, additional work fees, etc. were added to a small salary. However, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation recognized that it is impossible to include payment for the additional workload of teachers in the total salary, if it does not exceed the minimum wage. It is this resolution that is referred to when it is said that teachers' salaries should not be less than this level.
The same provision is enshrined in the uniform recommendations on the establishment of remuneration systems for employees of public sector organizations for 2025. There is also a reference to Resolution No. 40-P.
There have already been precedents for reviewing teachers' salaries in the courts. So, in November, in the Republic of Tyva, the Kyzylsky District Court decided to pay more than 110 thousand rubles to primary school teachers, whose salary was significantly lower than required by law. The prosecutor filed a lawsuit with the court. He pointed out that the employer "does not provide an employee who has fully worked out the standard of working hours with a salary not lower than the minimum wage," including payments for types of work that are not included in the main official duties of a teacher — for classroom guidance, an office, checking written papers, as well as a study load in excess of the established norm. at about 18 o'clock.
In Kyzyl, the court just took into account resolution No. 40-P, noting that the additional payment for performing additional types of work should be included in part of the salary above the minimum wage.
What can winning in court change?
Recall that the monitoring of the Teacher trade union in August 2025 showed that in 90% of regions, teachers' salaries are below the minimum wage. Moreover, in some regions of the Russian Federation, regional authorities have sent demands to municipalities to bring teacher salary structures in line with this requirement.
Vyacheslav Pilnikov, a regional representative of the Teacher trade union, noted that the court's decision to increase teachers' salaries to at least the minimum wage could allow this practice to spread throughout the region.
"We expect this trial to create such a precedent that a trade union organization, using the example of an employee's claim, can challenge the administration's act and recalculate the salary of others," he told Izvestia. — This will be a good precedent for teachers all over Russia, because now the authority to calculate salaries is at the discretion of the region and regional officials use it.
Meanwhile, the city administration emphasizes that the governor of the Khabarovsk Territory has already decided to switch to a new system of remuneration for teachers from January 1, 2026. According to it, teachers' salaries will increase by 25%, and new regulatory legal acts on the remuneration system will be adopted.
The trade union and lawyers were also wary of this decision: if salaries were increased by a quarter, they would increase by 3 thousand and amount to only about 15.3 thousand rubles, despite the fact that the minimum wage increases by 4.5 thousand rubles from January 1.
It is also planned to change the system of compensation and incentive payments: they will be set in absolute values. The Teacher trade union notes that there is no understanding of what this means yet, and admits that it is "about a possible reduction in compensation and incentive payments." In addition, the lack of published projects "generates rumors and tension." Moreover, according to Article 74 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employer must notify employees of significant changes in wage conditions two months in advance, but teachers have not yet received any official reports.
Vyacheslav Pilnikov fears that the establishment of a new wage system in the Khabarovsk Territory from January 1, 2026 may also interfere with a positive court decision.
— Perhaps the court will delay the consideration of this case, and then announce that the decision you are appealing has already expired, — said the interlocutor of Izvestia. — But we hope that the regional government will draw the right conclusions and will not lead to a mass judicial campaign of teachers.
How they propose to change the salary
Proposals to legislate teacher salaries based on a truly substantial salary are being regularly made. So, in early December, deputies of the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation proposed to set the base salary rate for teachers at at least two minimum wages.
Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov (LDPR) also called for "creating truly equal material conditions for teachers across the country." He proposes to establish a "single basic salary for teachers throughout Russia."
— Unfortunately, the case in the Khabarovsk Territory is a typical illustration of a systemic problem. When the teacher's salary is 12.2 thousand. rubles is not just a violation, it is a discrediting of the entire education system and disrespect for the people who shape the future of our country," the Izvestia interlocutor is convinced. — The requirement to bring salaries to at least one minimum wage through the courts is a desperate step by teachers who are forced to fight for their constitutional rights. And this step eloquently shows the failure of regional policy in this area.
He believes that it is necessary not only to set salaries at least the minimum wage, but also to eliminate the differentiation of teachers' salaries depending on the regions.
— Economically, Russia can afford it, the question is about priorities. We see that within the framework of the national Education project and the May presidential decrees, the task is to achieve an average teacher salary at the regional average level. However, unfortunately, this system allows regions to manipulate statistics and payroll funds, twisting the hands of teachers. Therefore, we need a strict, straightforward mechanism of federal guarantees," he said.
In his opinion, the federal base salary can become the foundation on which all allowances for category, length of service, workload, etc. will be accrued.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation about the situation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
