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Published Friday, March 5, 2021
The Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce, AmCham, asks for deputies to refrain from making exceptions and to include all public employees, regardless of the type of institution, within bill No.21336 that will reform the Public Employees Law.
AmCham's reaction is due to a motion, made by the Deputies Commission in charge of studying the pre-approved bill, to exclude Public Universities from the law of single salary scale, as well as not having the obligation to comply with the budget limits that are proposed in the bill.
“It is time for the government to establish significant reforms to face the severe economic crisis in the country. Establishing the same salary for public employees with the same responsibilities, according to the market," Gisela Sánchez, president of AmCham said. “It is time to eliminate the privileges that a few public employees have. The reform must include the entire public sector, including public companies and non-state public institutions."
According to AmCham, the approval of the reforms on the Public Employees Law is part of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, which is the basis for restoring economic stability and will provide the necessary support to the local and international financial community so that Costa Rica can continue to be an attractive investment destination.
AmCham is one of several chambers that have called on the deputies to reverse the exemptions approved in the new bill. The chambers of Tourism, Hotels, Restaurants, Exporters, Food and Industries stand in solidarity with AmCham.
"It is a timely moment to correct the errors and put an end to a vicious circle that today has the country paying exorbitant sums (referring to salaries) despite the deteriorating finances of the State," Javier Pacheco, president of the Chamber of Hotels said.
“The basic principle of the non-exclusion of organizations and public entities are being transgressed, it damages the process that the government, organizations and society have built. The main damage is being done to the country," the Chamber of Exports said in its statement.
The bill to regulate salary and budgets in government institutions continues under analysis in Congress. However, on Tuesday, some deputies from the Partido Liberación Nacional and the current government party Partido Acción Ciudadana, approved a motion that allows public universities to determine the salary of their employees.
According to the bill that seeks to regulate public employment, wages are one of the main costs to the State.
There are automatic mechanisms that increase total salaries, beyond the base salary, without the control of the authorities, and therefore affect the size of the fiscal deficit.
For example, various trends show that on average public employees earn much more than those who work in the private sector in similar functions.
Also, the difference between salaries has been widening over time. The average monthly income of the central government and the rest of the public institutions doubled the average monthly income of salaries in the private sector in 2013.
Furthermore, the differential in favor of the public sector is generalized in all occupational categories (although the level varies according to occupational category).
For example, there is a salary difference between public and private sector workers. Between professionals and scientists there is a salary difference of 31%, between technicians and mid-level professionals 35%, between service workers 95%, in operators of facilities a 51% difference in favor of public sector workers.
It is expected that in the next few days, Congress will release the lawmakers' decision to approve, reject or request for more changes on the bill to change the actual Public Employees Law.
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What are the pros and cons of Congress approving the same salary for the same type of work in public organizations? We would like to know your
thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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