Public Sector Pay at a Glance

14 Jul 2011

Barra Roantree

The OECD have released the latest edition of their comprehensive 'Government at a Glance' report, which compares the structure and effectiveness of governance in the OECD across a range of areas, from public procurement to e-government and transparency. This post and the accompanying infographics look at government employment, compensation, and hours worked in European members of the OECD.

Employment

There is considerable variation in the size of general government employment as a percentage of the labour force across the European Union, shown in infograph #1. As the OECD notes, this "reflects the choices countries make regarding the level and modes of public service delivery". It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Scandinavian countries employ almost twice the OECD average of 15 percent, given their reputation for placing high importance on public services.

The definition of the general government sector spans central, state, regional and local government in addition to agencies and non-profit institutions that are controlled and mainly financed by public authorities.

The data comes from the International Labour Organization (ILO) LABORSTA database, and is available from the OECD website.

Infograph #1

 
Hours worked

In addition to variation in the numbers employed in the public sector, there is significant variation in the number of hours worked by those employees. Infograph #2 shows the average hours per year worked in central government, which ranges from 1545 hours per year (Portugal) to 1913 hours per year (Switzerland).

The data is taken from the 2010 'OECD Survey on the Compensation of Employees in Central/Federal Governments', and again is available on the OECD website.

 

Infograph #2



Public Sector Compensation

Increasing pressure on European governments to consolidate large fiscal deficits has lead to debates on appropriate pay levels in the public sector, given the significant proportion of government spending that pay constitutes.

The following infographics show the relative total remuneration of public sector managers and secretarial staff across those European OECD countries which took part in the 2010 OECD survey. The survey looked at not only salaries and wages, but also social benefits and future pension earnings of comparable public sector occupations. This overcomes many of the problems frequently encountered in 'benchmarking' exercises, which compare public sector pay levels against private sector positions that may not involve the same responsibilities.


Infograph #3

Data at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390747

Infograph #4

Data at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390766

Infograph #5

Data at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390804



Lastly, the OECD have put together a short video using this information to outline the trends in government spending that have occurred against the background of the economic crisis. It is worth a look and illustrates the importance of comparative data for policy makers facing difficult decisions.



Get the data.

2010 OECD Survey on the Compensation of Employees in Central/Federal Governments, OECD STAN Database.

27.1 Average annual compensation of central government senior managers: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390747

28.1 Average annual compensation of middle managers in central government (2009): http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390766

30.1 Average annual compensation of employees in secretarial positions (2009): http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390804

34.1 Average working hours per year by central government employees (2010): http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390880

International Labour Organization (ILO), LABORSTA Database

21.1 Employment in general government as a percentage of the labour force (2008): http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932390538


Notes

Ireland: Data takes into account the decrease in salaries following the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. Social contributions rates are for staff hired after 1995 and exclude unfunded pension schemes though the pay-as-you-go system.

Spain: Major reductions in compensation were introduced in May 2010 that are not reflected.


Methodology for compensation comparisons:
From Annex D of OECD 'Government at a Glance 2011'

Working time adjustment: "to put the compensation of employees reported on a comparable basis across countries, the difference in the working time (number of hours worked per week in the civil service, annual leave entitlements … and statutory holidays) is used for the calculation of the adjusted annual average compensation. For senior managers, since weekly working time applies very unevenly to this category of employees, data were adjusted only for holidays".

D1 managers are top public servants below the Minister or Secretary of State. They could also be members of the senior civil service and/or appointed by the government or head of government. They advise government on policy matters, oversee the interpretation and implementation of government policies and, in some countries, have executive powers. D1managers may be entitled to attend some cabinet meetings. They provide overall direction and management to the Minister/Secretary of State or a particular administrative area. In countries with a system of autonomous agencies, decentralised powers, flatter organisations and empowered managers, D1managers correspond to Directors General.

D3 managers plan, direct and co-ordinate the general functioning of a specific directorate/administrative unit within the Ministry with the support of other managers, usually within the guidelines established by a board of directors or a governing body. They provide leadership and management to teams of professionals within their particular area. These officials develop and manage the work programme and staff of units, divisions or policy areas. They establish and manage budgets, control expenditures and ensure the efficient use of resources. They monitor and evaluate performance of the different professional teams.

Administrative executive secretaries perform liaison, co-ordination and organisational tasks in support of managers and professionals and prepare correspondence, reports and records of proceedings and other specialised documentation. They draft administrative correspondence and assist in the preparation of budgets, monitoring of expenditures, drafting of contracts and purchasing or acquisition orders. They supervise the work of clerical support workers.

 

Number of staff included in each occupational group

	D1	D2	D3	D4	Economist/Policy Analyst	Statistician	Administrative Executive Secretary	Secretary
Australia		212	633	7007			6804	4661
Austria
Belgium	6	9	50	424	3584	3348	115	2745
Chile	55	735	1201		33975		22162
Denmark	13	28	91	249	486		76	56
Estonia	29		81	64	560	323	36	22
Finland	46		644	275	9130	217	671	2992
Hungary	12	26	85	117	1054		102	97
Iceland	5	5	32		136			58
Ireland	8	55	294	1111	142	8	1242	1603
Italy	149		1588		28310		50885
Korea	21	220	1015	3417	4296	8121	3443	2573
Netherlands	73	417	373	1942	4085	16247	10746	7389
New Zealand	5	27	107	157	374	490	89	1194
Norway	8	53	182	60	588	433	72	6
Slovenia	50		427		725	25	12	297
Spain	96	618	1432	694	114	11	659	192
Sweden	232	1281	2445	4588	2486	576	6777	3141
United Kingdom	58	273	1073	7974	42558		46667	11759
United States	96	2292	7694	14733	14212	881	1251	6175
Brazil	126	1311	2393	6447	94999	32720	96034	67316

Source: OECD 'Government at a Glance 2011' Table D.1.

This content forms part of the E View project, which is part-funded by DG Communication of the European Parliament. 

 

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