The dispute over fair salaries of Ukrainian top civil servants continues as the nation seeks to answer the question: What is too little and what is too much?
Probably it is an inevitable discussion in any country. From the side of overall public opinion, I think it is not so much just about the number, but about fairness. Do the numbers look fair, taking into account overall living standards, the significant number of people living under the poverty line and the cases of corruption that still sometimes make the headlines? Do the numbers feel fair compared to the level of proficiency of the leaders and was there a real transparent competition for vacancies? Is the outcome of their work measurable, being felt and well-communicated. Hence, are the salary numbers justified?
This is one side of the Moon. Or Earth. Or Ukraine. Another side is the eternal dispute over the lack of top specialists willing to work in the public sector.
“Salaries in the private sector are much higher, so who would come to work for the government?”
“Who wants to be under brutal attacks of media, unknown Telegram channels and all the anti-corruption agencies?”
Oh, and my favorite argument: “They earn more in bribes than they would earn working for that salary.” No, taking a bribe in a rule of law country would earn you a “go to jail ćard,” not a luxury villa for that earning.
The fact is that long-term employment of a top-level manager or specialist assumes fair salaries. Top managers should be able to maintain a certain living standard while being in the same universe and planet with others. Yes, they will earn less than in the private sector. But it is a choice to make. Serving the country in most countries pays less than working in top management in the private sector. Then again, you don’t have as well to raise the ladder to the level of salaries of the very top guns in the private sector. As in the U.S., governments probably would not go headhunting Bob Iger, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company, with over $60 million of annual salary, to become a deputy minister. The person with more suitable qualifications and aspirations for a government job might be the better fit. So yes, you could not afford Iger and this is quite OK. And this is why I am miffed in Ukraine when million-dollar bonuses in certain cases are justified with the explanation that “for less money. you will not find a good manager.” Well, the bench is not really so short that “no professional would be ready for less than tens of millions of dollars of bonuses.”
Let’s take Estonia as an example. The average monthly salary of a minister after taxes is around 4,000 euros. The salary of a member of the parliament and judges is around 3,100 euros. The salaries are defined by a formula that correlates to overall living standards. The upper level of salary of a civil servant is fixed at 4,388 euros. This is approximately four times the average salary of Estonia and nine times the average pension. Rank, inflation and the state budget are factors. Some years, the salaries may increase, depending on inflation and social tax income and some years. When the economy is not so well off, salaries will not increase. For example, salaries did not increase during 2014-2017.
This coefficient has been developed to take into account the level of responsibility as well as make a correlation to the overall living standards. The government is a team and if the overall living standard improves, its members get a raise as well. If it doesn’t, we all are in the same boat. And yes, it is normal for a minister to have a long-term apartment loan and yes, it would be very strange to drive a new Ferrari to court as a judge and no, you could not earn some hundred of times extra in bonuses working for your country.
It is just one example of the formula, the most important is transparency and a sense of fairness. We are all in the same boat after all and long sailing ahead.
