IDFI Says State Officials' Remuneration System Not Transparent Enough

Georgia-based non-governmental organization, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), has revealed a number of shortcomings in the state remuneration system after the Parliament of Georgia adopted a new Law on Salaries in Public Facilities on December 22, 2017.

The NGO carried out a study and claim that the system of remuneration is not transparent enough, despite the fact that after the adoption of the new law, the remuneration of workers employed in public institutions was strictly determined.

The new law significantly restricts bonuses and salary supplements in the public sector. In particular, the maximum amount of wage supplements issued over the year has been limited to 20% of the annual salary and 10% of the cash supplement annually.

At the same time, according to the law, high-rank political officials were banned from getting bonuses and supplements.

The IDFI stressed that the law does not cover all state institutions, noting that it is a challenge. The NGO studied public information received from about 100 public institutions (the Presidential Administration, Parliamentary Staff, Ministries, Ministries and other independent LEPLs) on the remuneration paid to employees and officials after the entry into force of the new law.

The organization says that recent legal restrictions on granting bonuses and salary supplements have not affected the total remuneration received by public officials, adding most of the officials receive monthly salaries of the same amount of money they received as a salary, bonus and supplement before the law was adopted.

Furthermore, the NGO says in many cases monthly salaries of particular officials exceed the monthly salaries of their superior officials. For example, according to the survey, the salaries of the deputies of the ministers of Economics, Defense, Internal Affairs, Justice and also Foreign Ministry (GEL 7,500) exceed the remuneration received by the ministers (GEL 6,250).

According to the study, the monthly salary of the President of Georgia is GEL 6,900 and GEL 6,250 for the Head of the President’s Administration. The first deputy of the Head of the President’s Administration gets paid GEL 5,770 per month, the salary of the deputy of the Head of the President’s Administration is GEL 5,440 per month. The President’s Parliamentary Secretary receives GEL 5,410 per month and the monthly salary for the Department Head is GEL 4,400.

The NGO claims that majority of officials get the same amount of monthly salaries as they used to receive before activation of the new law, adding no fundamental changes have taken place in the system.

It also says the new law on remuneration does not apply to such departments (state companies, regulatory commissions, etc.), whose supervisors receive the highest salary in the public sector.

The IDFI believes that disclosure of detailed information about the remuneration of certain officials still remains an important issue as some state institutions refused to provide them with the requested information.

“For years, Georgia has had a flawed, unfair and non-transparent system of public service remuneration… One such flaw is the fact that the most recent legal restrictions on using bonuses and salary supplements have not affected the total remuneration received by public officials, whose salaries were increased to accommodate the loss of bonuses and supplements,” Levan Avalishvili, Programs Director at the IDFI stated.

By Thea Morrison

Image source: kr.co.za