“The civil servants’ remuneration system prevents the establishment of good human resources management”

FFaced with the rise in inflation, Emmanuel Macron had to promise an increase in the salaries of public officials before the summer. It is a volte-face, when, at the end of 2021, the Minister of the Public Service, Amélie de Montchalin, announced, for the fifth consecutive year, the maintenance of the freezing of the value of the index point. The result is, for civil servants, a lack of wage clarity: sometimes financial savings measures, such as freezing the value of the point, sometimes sectoral revaluations (Ségur de la santé, Grenelle de l’éducation, Beauvau de la security, etc.) according to current social tensions.

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In fact, the current functioning of the remuneration system for public officials prevents the establishment of good human resource management. Become illegible by its complexity, it maintains disparities in particular between the trades and the sexes, and is completely unsuited to the return of inflation. The freezing of the index point causes a deterioration in purchasing power resulting in a drop in the number of candidates for competitions, a demobilization of public officials and a growing proportion of civil servants paid at the minimum wage.

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Indeed, the minimum wage is rising faster than the average salary in the civil service, which leads to a settling of the index grids. The catching up of the successive increases in the minimum wage by the index grids means that more and more agents of categories C and B are paid the minimum wage. This causes a feeling of stagnation for young agents and means for older ones a sharp reduction in the salary differential linked to experience.

These shortcomings require a remuneration architecture adapted to the challenges of attractiveness, clarity and fairness. To the announced revaluation of the value of the point, which becomes urgent, must therefore be added a deeper overhaul.

To avoid salary jolts and bolster salary confidence between public officials and their employer, a known and applicable formula for indexing the value of the point is essential to guarantee regular salary increases and avoid reliving the salary freeze again. long duration.

Group performance

This indexation would provide an opportunity to review the determinants of the indexed wage share in order to increase its share to the detriment of bonuses and allowances, which have become illegible and unfair. It is necessary to move towards a simpler remuneration, based on the profession, less linked to qualification and seniority. A public official would thus receive an index remuneration comprising a component linked to his grade (ie the qualification and experience acquired during his recruitment), and another component linked to the functions and responsibilities exercised. This would make it possible to reduce the growing share of the compensation scheme not taken into account in the calculation of pension rights and to further enhance the hardship of certain professions.

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