Tomas: Civil Servants Should See Hikes in Bonuses as Well
Bratislava, January 25 (TASR) – Hikes in bonuses for night, holiday and weekend work should involve not only people working for private firms, but also state and public administration employees, stated governing Smer-SD MP Erik Tomas on Thursday.
Tomas wants to submit an amending proposal to this effect at the next parliamentary session due to begin on January 30.
The Smer-SD MP plans to submit his proposal via an amendment to the Labour Code that is currently at its second reading in Parliament. “Simply, state and public administration employees should also see higher bonuses. I consider it to be logical and correct that if the state is imposing such an obligation on private companies, it should take care of its own employees in the same way,” said Tomas.
Hikes in bonuses should thus encompass, for instance, nurses, employees of social care homes and chauffeurs. “The current system of bonuses has somehow been set and most of the bonuses have been working. The problem is that there are big differences in levels, calculation methods and even in the laws that entitle employees to these bonuses,” said Tomas, who via his amending proposal wants to set clear rules for calculating the level of bonuses for civil servants.
“Simply put, an HR employee in an institution or state body will have to calculate accurately whether benefits for a particular employee are more beneficial under the law currently in force or under the new Labour Code, and subsequently give the employee the better option,” said Tomas.
The amendment to the Labour Code aimed at introducing higher work bonuses was discussed by the tripartite (Government, trade unions and employers) last week. The Labour Ministry and the social partners agreed that the hikes in bonuses won’t be implemented at once, but gradually in two stages. According to the agreement, the first hikes in bonuses for night work will be introduced as of May 1, 2018, while further hikes will appear as of May 1, 2019.
Meanwhile, bonuses for weekend work will be introduced as well, with bonuses for working on Saturdays representing 25 percent of the minimum wage as of May 2018 and 50 percent as of May 2019. Bonuses for working on Sundays will increase to 50 percent as of May 2018 and to 100 percent as of May 2019.
Regarding bonuses for holiday work, no changes were adopted during the negotiations, so these will go up from 50 percent of an employee’s average salary to 100 percent.
