11 June 2008
Details of the remuneration of States employees are included in the Financial Report and Accounts for 2007, which will be published next week. Notes to the accounts give details of the number of States employees earning over £70,000 a year. The States Employment Board has provided further details and explanation.
During 2007, 464 public sector employees (7.73% of the total) earned in excess of £70,000. These earnings include overtime, standby and other allowances in addition to basic salary. They also include the employer’s pension contribution of 15.6% of basic salary. Compared to 2006, an additional 140 employees are earning over £70,000.
Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker, commented that: ‘The detail behind these figures shows that the increase in the number of staff earning over £70,000 a year can be explained largely by the effect of last year’s inflation-linked pay increase, which lifted over 100 staff into the higher pay bracket for the first time. Many of the highest-paid public servants are senior medical staff at the hospital, head teachers or chief officers heading major departments who all make major contributions to ensuring the high standard of public services that we all enjoy in the Island.’
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Notes to editors:
Hospital doctors, consultants and law officers account for many of the highest earners in the public sector, with chief officers and head teachers also featuring. Civil servants predominate up to £90,000. The term ‘civil servant’ includes a number of professions such as States Vet, Official Analyst, Senior Ambulance Officers, Air Traffic Controllers, Meteorologists, Engineers, Accountants, Customs & Immigration Officers, Modern Matrons, Physiotherapists, Pathologists, Microbiologists, Radiologists and Pharmacists.
In his review of States spending, published in May 2008, the Comptroller & Auditor General commented that: ‘For some senior positions, the States remuneration system is not competitive with remuneration offered by private sector employers and in consequence, the States are at risk of losing senior employees.’ His view was informed by the salary survey carried out by Hay Group in early 2006, which made a robust pay comparison based on job size between States of Jersey staff and those in the Jersey private sector. This showed that at the highest paid grades, public sector earnings were lower than comparable earnings in the private sector.
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