Gov't to freeze salaries in 2010

The monthly average gross salary in the public sector, amounting to RON 2,199 currently, stagnates next year but it is set to further advance by up to 56 per cent, so that it shall amount to RON 3,430 in 2015, based on the data presented yesterday by Finance Minister, Gheorghe Pogea, during the talks between government and unions as to the unitary wage.

He specified that the evolution of the average salary considers bonuses as well and not the 13th salary. According to the Minister, the unitary wage law shall result in a reduction of salary share within GDP from currently 9.4 per cent to nearly 6 per cent in 2015.

"Four years ago, salaries in public sector were accounting for 5.5 - 5.7 per cent. Dynamics in the past four years both regarding staff number and salary raises, along with bonuses, led to salaries accounting today for 9.4 per cent of GDP, or RON 46 bln. We cannot be EU members with EUR 300 salaries but such salaries need to be correlated with the productivity and evolution of salaries in the private sector, the latter being the one which eventually secures sustainability and generates resources for the public system," Pogea said.

Physicians and professors stated their discontent as to the latest draft of the unitary wage law, talks which have to be placed within the context of part of the civil servants showing their discontent after Labour Ministry had diminished the salaries mentioned in the grid. Cartel Alfa also does not agree having the minimal wage frozen in 2010, and nor do they agree the latest form of the unitary wage salary, according to HotNews.ro

On the other side, the basic salary becomes the key element of salary income for civil servants and it will include some general nature bonuses which shall not exceed 30 per cent of this, as Marian Sarbu, Labour Minister, said yesterday, during the meeting with the unions and the associations of employers on the unitary wage salary for the staff paid from public funds, Agerpres informs. "In order to achieve 30 per cent share of bonuses in total salary for all civil servants, the basic salary includes, apart from the general nature bonuses, such as seniority, prevention, specific to health, neuro-psychical over-working in education and others similar, some bonuses specific to fields of activity such as confidentiality bonus, fidelity, stability, bonuses for electromagnetic radiations.

The bonuses for labour conditions will continue to be paid separately. The share for the bonuses paid on cumulative bases for all credit applicants cannot exceed 30 per cent of the total volume allotted for salary expenditures", Labour Minister said. According to Marian Sarbu, in relation to the ratio between national gross minimal salary and gross average salary earnings, this is expected to reach 50 per cent in 2015. The new law shall also aim at simplifying the salary system by reducing the number of grades and professional levels to maximum three for each function, compared to five so far in most of contract based functions.

He mentioned that the implementation of the new salary system will be achieved gradually. "Financially speaking, the staged implementation takes place within the limit of amounts allotted by the annual laws of consolidated budget," Marian Sarbu said. He also said that the salary raises in the system shall be set depending on the financial resources and not the automatic application of hierarchy coefficients. "As of 2010, a new placement of all civil servants shall be considered by functions and professional grades in keeping with the new law, by introducing the bonuses into the basic salary, which they received until the application of the law and, case by case, of the indemnification which was included in the basic salary as law provided. In case of those to be employed after the enforcement of the law, the basic salaries shall be established by correlation with the basic salaries of the staff already employed at that moment," Marian Sarbu concluded.

The blanket salary law applies to the staff employed in public institutions financed integrally from annual budgets, to the staff from public institutions financed from own revenues and from subsidies paid from the state budget, to staff from public institutions and authorities fully financed from own revenues, to the staff from public institutions having local subordination fully financed from own revenues.

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