ISRAEL
Israel’s public sector wage bill is increasing at a far higher rate than the general average wage, figures presented by the Ministry of Finance reveal.
Senior medical specialists’ salaries have soared 80 per cent since the last wage agreement in 2011, making them among the highest paid in the world and increasing the wage gaps with ordinary doctors, the figures state.
“The report shows that the average salary in all public service sectors is significantly higher than the general average salary. The difference varies from 31 per cent in the educational system to 85 per cent in the health system,” Mr Bar-Natan said.
The report noted that the public sector had grown in both salary and number of employees in recent years. The number of jobs in Government Ministries grew 18 per cent in the past decade, about the same as the population increase during that period.
In addition to higher pay, Public Service employees also enjoyed other advantages over workers in the private sector, the most prominent being job security. Civil Service Commission figures show that 304 employees were laid off in 2017, 0.9 per cent of all public service employees.
Public Service work days are 30 minutes shorter than in the general economy. Many groups of workers, including parents of young children, have their work day shortened by an additional 30-to-60 minutes.
State employees are entitled to a minimum of 24 vacation days a year, compared with 13 in the general economy, and 30 days of annual paid sick leave, compared with 18 in the economy at large.
They are also entitled to participate in a series of activities outside the office, including professional training and team spirit building days.
An analysis by the Ministry of Finance shows that all the hours in which the workers are not in the office amount to one full day a week, meaning that State workers are actually at work only four days a week.
Jerusalem, 12 February, 2019
