The salaries of hundreds of public servants sacked for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination in the Northern Territory could be used to fund "bonus" payments worth $10,000 for the rest of the workforce.

The cash-strapped NT government is trying to implement a public service pay freeze as part of a budget measure designed to save $424 million over four years.

In an attempt to get staff to agree to the austerity measure, the government previously put forward an offer of $1,000 annual bonuses.

But the proposal was recently rejected by a majority of the NT's 24,000 public servants because employees would remain on their existing salaries after four years.

On Monday, Chief Minister Michael Gunner sent an email to all staff outlining the government's new proposal.

Under the revised scheme, staff would get a $4,000 bonus in the first year, and $2,000 bonuses in each of the following three years.

"That is $10,000 extra in public servants' pockets over four years — while also keeping a lid on the growth in the public service wages bill," Mr Gunner said.

The new proposal would be funded through a reduction in staffing caused by the government's vaccine mandate.

Mr Gunner said around 400 public servants had been dismissed for not getting a COVID-19 jab as required.

Some of the positions would be re-filled, but the wages of around 300 outgoing staff would be shared by the rest of the public service through bonuses, he said.

A spokesman for the government said the new proposal would still result in $424 million in budget savings over four years.

Kay Densely from the Community and Public Sector Union said it was "good news" the government had put forward a new offer, but it was too early to know if staff would agree to it.

"Salaries will stay the same over the four-year period, that's still a concern to us, and it's a concern to a lot of our members," Ms Densely said.

She also raised concerns about the impact of losing hundreds of staff, whose roles would not be filled.

"Obviously, these people were hired to do work, and who will [now] do that work when they go?" she said.

The Chief Minister urged public servants to vote on the new deal before Christmas.

But Ms Densely said there were still too many unknowns in the revised offer to make a quick decision.

"Just an announcement by the Chief Minister doesn't really make everything better," she said.

"We just need the detail to be able to let our members know so that there's an informed choice."

The NT opposition is yet to comment on the government's revised wages policy.

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