Minimum wage compensation - Businesses, application deadline until October 31
Businesses that have been affected by the increase in the minimum wage in Albania still have the opportunity to apply for financial compensation from the state for part of the cost of social and health contributions.
As of January 1, 2026, the national minimum wage increased from 40,000 to 50,000 lek per month. To mitigate the effect of this increase on businesses' labor costs, the government approved a compensation scheme covering the period January–September 2026.
According to the scheme, the compensation is provided at the rate of 16.7%, which corresponds to the employer's social and health contributions, and is calculated on the difference between the previously declared salary and the new minimum level of 50 thousand lek.
The beneficiaries are employees who, on the September 2025 payroll, had a gross salary of between 40,000 and 49,999 lek. The compensation is related to this difference and aims to amortize the additional costs incurred by employers after the increase in the minimum wage.
The scheme benefits private entities that meet the criteria set out in the government decision. Among the main criteria are that the entity has employees registered on the payroll, is not a state entity or public entity, and is not registered as self-employed according to the defined categories.
Also, at the time of application, the entity must not have any outstanding major obligations for social security and health insurance contributions. If the number of employees is reduced compared to the reference level, the method of calculating the compensation changes.
The application is made electronically through the e-Albania portal, for the relevant service of financial compensation of social security and health contributions.
The application deadline is April 1 to October 31, 2026. This means that businesses that meet the criteria still have time to submit the application and receive compensation for the specified period.
According to data published at the launch of the scheme, the list of beneficiary entities included around 36,000 companies in several sectors, making this one of the main measures taken to alleviate the effect of the minimum wage increase on businesses.
The increase in the minimum wage to 50 thousand lekë simultaneously increased the base on which contributions are calculated, increasing labor costs for businesses that had employees at previous wage levels.
Through compensation, the state aims to mitigate this effect for a nine-month period, while the terms of the scheme are also related to maintaining the number of employees.
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