Performance-based salary bonuses: Armenia launches pilot programme in state agencies
Salary bonus in Armenian public bodies
Civil servants in Armenia will receive financial bonuses based on assessments of their performance. The pilot incentive programme will cover the prime minister’s office, 12 ministries and three committees. It will run until the end of 2026.
The government allocated about 3.6 billion drams ($9.5m) from the 2025 state budget for the project. The incentive fund will receive the money for the first half of this year. The relevant agencies already completed their assessments for that period.
The government expects the programme to strengthen the effectiveness of the public administration system. The prime minister believes the programme will address an institutional problem.
“Professionalism, accessibility and the attractiveness of work in state bodies must improve. This is the task we are addressing today,” Nikol Pashinyan said.
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How the performance of employees will be assessed
The performance indicators of employees will rely on the progress they achieve.
The Prime Minister’s Office will receive the relevant report.
Under the draft submitted to the government for approval, the programme aims to encourage the effectiveness of civil servants in managerial positions. It also applies to others:
“Up to 20 percent of bonuses from an agency’s incentive fund may go to employees who do not hold managerial positions.”
Each agency will determine its incentive fund through a special formula.
The calculation will include several indicators:
- Each group has a minimum base salary that serves as a reference.
- A bonus calculation coefficient applies to every position.
- The performance assessment index measures the state body’s results for the reporting period.
The highest bonus calculation coefficient — 12 or more — applies to a member of the government, the head of a state body, and positions equal to them.
Other employees fall under the following coefficients:
- For deputy heads of a state body, secretaries general, and equivalent positions, the coefficient ranges from 8.5 to 12.
- Department heads, deputy secretaries general, advisers to the head, and equivalent roles receive a coefficient between 7 and 8.5.
- The range for deputy department heads, division heads, assistants to the head of the agency, and equivalent positions is 3.21 to 7.
‘Our work has many shortcomings because we do not invest in improving management quality’
“In our work, there are many shortcomings. But when we examine them, we see that a significant part is due to the fact that we do not invest in improving management quality, increasing the appeal of working in public bodies, introducing additional work incentives, and certain social guarantees,” the prime minister said.
Pashinyan believes that such programs will help address one of the main challenges to Armenia’s development:
“Work in public bodies must become increasingly attractive and competitive compared with the private sector. The state should empower the individual, and the individual should strengthen the state.”
Salary bonus in Armenian public bodies
