From 1 January 2027, benefits for people with reduced work capacity in Hungary will rise by 10 percent, and the minimum old-age pension will jump to HUF 120,000. Prime Minister Magyar Péter announced both changes on Facebook, framing them as a single package for disability and rehabilitation recipients. For HR leaders running inclusive-hiring programmes, the more interesting number is the one that stays low: the statutory floor for the lowest disability category remains HUF 44,155 per month, a fraction of the Hungarian minimum wage.

That gap is where retention and wage-supplementation decisions now live. A B1-category worker on the statutory minimum benefit cannot cover living costs on the transfer alone, which means the employment relationship, not the state, carries the household economics. Understanding how the categories, the base amount, and the pension floor interact is the difference between an inclusive-hiring policy that sticks and one that quietly loses people to attrition.

What actually changes on 1 January 2027

Two moves land on the same day. First, all reduced-work-capacity benefits, including disability and rehabilitation payments, are raised by 10 percent. Second, the minimum old-age pension is lifted to HUF 120,000, and that floor also applies to reduced-capacity benefit recipients once they pass age 65. According to the dossier reporting, the pension minimum had been frozen at HUF 28,500 since 2008, so the jump to HUF 120,000 is a structural reset rather than an annual index tweak. Magyar Péter first flagged the HUF 120,000 figure in late August; the September announcement confirmed the disability side of the package.

The 10 percent uplift interacts with the base amount (alapösszeg) used to calculate every category. Per government decree 327/2011. (XII. 29.), the base amount stands at HUF 147,175 after 31 December 2025 and rises each 1 January by the same rate as the pension increase. In practice, the base amount is the anchor: category minimums and maximums are all expressed as percentages of it, so the 10 percent lift moves the entire schedule together.

How the category schedule reads for workforce planning

The complex assessment (komplex minősítés) determines which category a worker falls into, and the resulting benefit is a function of that category plus previous average monthly income, bounded by statutory minimums and maximums. For HR teams calibrating role design and wage top-ups, the current schedule matters more than any single headline number:

• B1: 35% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 44,155 (30% of base), maximum HUF 58,870 (40%).
• B2: 40% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 44,155 (30%), maximum HUF 66,230 (45%).
• C1: 45% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 58,870 (40%), maximum HUF 73,590 (50%).
• C2: 60% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 66,230 (45%), maximum HUF 220,765 (150%).
• D: 65% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 73,590 (50%), maximum HUF 220,765 (150%).
• E: 70% of average monthly income; minimum HUF 80,950 (55%), maximum HUF 220,765 (150%).

The base-amount figures above reflect the pre-2027 schedule (Portfolio is cited in the dossier as the source for base-amount and indexation details). Applying the 10 percent uplift moves every minimum and maximum in lockstep. What does not move is the underlying architecture: B1 and B2 workers stay on the lowest floor, and that floor stays well below any recognisable living wage in Hungary.

The wage-supplementation gap HR now owns

This is the operative implication for people leaders. A B1 or B2 worker on the statutory minimum receives HUF 44,155 per month from the benefit. Even after the 10 percent uplift, the transfer sits far below the statutory minimum wage. The unspoken assumption in the benefit design is that reduced-capacity workers supplement with earnings, family income, or, from age 65, the new HUF 120,000 pension floor. For HR, that means the employer carries the economic viability of the role, not the state.

The practical implications for workforce planning:

• Roles built around B1 or B2 workers need wage bands that treat the benefit as marginal, not core, household income. Anchoring an offer to the benefit floor is a retention risk.
• Total-reward statements should show benefit plus wage as one figure, so candidates and current employees can compare offers cleanly against the minimum wage benchmark.
• Roles designed for D or E category workers, where the maximum reaches HUF 220,765 (150% of base), have more headroom, and the retention case for enriched job design (accommodations, part-time schedules, remote work where feasible) is stronger.

The age-65 pivot: pension floor as retention lever

The HUF 120,000 pension minimum applies to reduced-work-capacity benefit recipients over age 65. For any HR team with a meaningful cohort of older workers on B1 or B2, this is a real inflection point. Before 65, the household budget depends heavily on wages. After 65, the pension floor becomes the anchor, and the retention conversation shifts from economic necessity to job satisfaction, accommodations, and continued engagement.

That has two consequences worth planning for. First, workforce-planning models should not assume the same attrition curve for reduced-capacity workers pre- and post-65; the economic pressure to work drops materially at that threshold. Second, employer-branding narratives for inclusive employment can point to the combined package (wage, benefit, pension floor) rather than any single component, which reads more credibly than headline-grabbing minimum-wage comparisons.

What Magyar Péter actually said

“2027. január 1-től 10 százalékkal emeljük a megváltozott munkaképességűek ellátását. A rokkantsági és rehabilitációs ellátást is. 65 éves kor felett rájuk is vonatkozni fog a nyugdíjminimum 120 ezer forintra emelése.”

In English: from 1 January 2027, reduced-work-capacity benefits, including disability and rehabilitation payments, rise 10 percent, and the HUF 120,000 pension minimum extends to recipients over age 65. The announcement was made on Facebook, which is worth flagging for HR communications teams: employees are likely to see the news through social channels before any internal briefing lands, so proactive framing from People and Culture avoids a fortnight of speculative water-cooler questions.

Recruitment and retention implications

For organisations actively recruiting reduced-capacity workers, the January 2027 changes tighten one variable and loosen another. The 10 percent uplift marginally improves the offer-table math, but it does not close the gap to the minimum wage for B1 and B2 candidates. Employer-branding teams that lean on inclusive-hiring credentials will need to show, not assert, how the total reward package compensates for the statutory floor.

Retention pressure will concentrate on two segments: B1 and B2 workers under 65 (where the wage-supplementation gap is largest and competitor offers matter most), and workers approaching 65 (where the pension-floor pivot may reopen decisions about hours, role scope, and retirement timing). HR analytics teams should segment attrition data along these lines before Q1 2027, so any post-uplift movement can be attributed cleanly rather than absorbed into a general retention narrative.

Key takeaways for HR leaders

• All reduced-work-capacity benefits rise 10 percent from 1 January 2027; the HUF 120,000 pension minimum extends to recipients over 65.
• The B1 and B2 statutory floor stays at HUF 44,155, well below the minimum wage; wage supplementation is the employer's problem, not the state's.
• The base amount (HUF 147,175 after 31 December 2025) rises in lockstep with the pension index, so category maximums move too, especially relevant for D and E roles.
• Model attrition separately for pre-65 and post-65 reduced-capacity cohorts; the economic pressure to work drops at the pension-floor threshold.
• Prepare internal comms before employees see the news on social media; the original announcement went out via Facebook.