The government will again reduce the coefficients for official salaries?
If a new law on salaries in the public sector is not adopted on time, the reduction of the coefficients for calculating officials' salaries is one of the measures that will be considered, according to the Ministry of Public Administration.
The government will not soon draft a new law on the salary system in the public sector, and in order to curb the growth of salaries for officials that will follow from January, one of the measures that will be considered is the reduction of the coefficients by which the basis is multiplied in the calculation. say the Ministry of Public Administration for "Free Press".
According to the current Law on salaries of elected and appointed persons, the basis for calculation is the average annual salary from the previous year, which is multiplied by a coefficient according to the complexity of the job. If the coefficients are not reduced, from January 2025 the salaries of officials will increase again in accordance with the growth of the annual average salary, from about 330 euros for the highest officials' salaries - for the prime minister, the president and the speaker, to about 130 euros for the lowest functions.
MJA: The government does not support the increase in official salaries
The Cabinet of the Minister of Public Administration, Goran Minchev, says that the Government does not support the increase in official salaries.
- Namely, this principle is under the competence of the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for ensuring that fiscal resources are distributed in a way that will benefit the wider public sector. The priorities of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia are dedicated, above all, to maintaining fiscal stability, but also preventing disproportionate increases in the salaries of officials. Within these priorities, and if a new law is not passed in time, reducing the coefficients for calculating officials' salaries is one of the measures that will be considered - the Ministry of Public Administration told "Free Press".
The salaries of all employees in the legislative, executive and judicial authorities, in the local self-government, of the elected, appointed and appointed persons, as well as in the commercial companies in full state ownership, should be regulated by a new law on the salary system in the public sector. which was also announced by the last government, led by SDSM, but did not bring it until the end of the mandate, with the reasoning that it is complex and that it needs to be worked out for a whole year.
When asked whether the Ministry of Administration will prepare a completely new legal solution or will use the proposal for a law on a salary system in the public sector of the former MIOA, which was uploaded to the ENER electronic register of laws in 2022, they say that they are currently actively working on three other laws, but not that one.
- The Ministry of Public Administration, according to its legal competences, is actively working on the laws that were withdrawn from the parliamentary procedure, namely the draft law on administrative officers, the draft law on employees in the public sector and the draft law on professional development and training of administrative officials, by opening broad public discussions about these laws, and in order for all stakeholders to give their impact through their opinion and contribution. In that direction, MJA strives to create a new legal framework, which will improve the management of human resources in the administration and ensure employment and promotions based on merit. The draft law on the salary system in the public sector is not currently in the work plan of the newly formed ministry, taking into account the significant challenges that we have faced, first of all, as a Government, and here we mean the catastrophic state of the budget. We are maximally focused on making every legal framework comply with the priority goal of the Government, which foresees an increase in salaries and pensions for citizens, but not for officials - say the MJA.
Either the odds down or the wages up!
In relation to when we can expect the new law that will bring order to the salary system in the public sector, especially since according to the current legal decisions the salaries of elected and appointed officials will rise to 330 euros from January, from MJA are with position that it is necessary to introduce order, but several ministries are affected by the drafting of the new law, which will have to make decisions according to their competences.
- Taking into account the current practice, the Ministry of Public Administration will undertake to upgrade the process of enactment of this law through the active and participatory involvement of the entire academic community, the professional public and competent institutions - said the Ministry.
Even today, the Government did not answer whether they think it is right for officials to receive a new raise from January, whether they will prepare a new law or whether the decision from 2022 will be taken into account, according to which the basis for calculation is the minimum wage, and whether they plan to "intercept it" " the increase of the current salaries in January with a new reduction of the coefficients.
The salaries of officials were increased by 78 percent in March 2023 after the Constitutional Court abolished the fixed base (22.567 denars), which was provided for in the Law on Salaries of Elected and Appointed Persons, and the average salary from the previous year remained in force as the base, which for 2022 it was MKD 31.859. In order for salaries not to increase in this year 2024, according to the average salary for 2023 of 36.614 denars, the previous government in February of this year, by amending six laws, reduced the coefficients for calculation, which ranged from 2,2 to 4,5, were reduced to a range of 1,91 to 3,92, so that the salaries of ministers, judges, mayors and other officials remained at the same level as after the increase of 78 percent. If they had not reduced the coefficients, their salaries would have increased by another 200 to 400 euros! The average salary for 2024 is expected to be around 41.000 denars, so if the Government does not reduce the coefficients again, their salaries in January will increase by 330 euros for the highest positions, that is, by 130 euros for the lowest positions. As an illustration, the basic salary of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski now amounts to 140.450 denars, and from January, if the coefficients are not reduced, it will amount to 160.720 denars, plus various allowances and allowances. An official with a coefficient of 3 will receive a salary increased by 13.150 denars, and with a coefficient of 2 it will be increased by 8.700 denars.
Only the judges and prosecutors reacted to the February reduction of the coefficients, which stopped the salary growth of all 1.060 officials, who appealed to the Constitutional Court, but the Court did not cancel the legal changes, arguing that they were constitutional.
