528,039 euros is the total amount of various additional payments, which, in addition to salaries, several dozen deputy state secretaries - second-level officials in the ministries - received over eight months this year, public media report.
Compared to last year, the volume of these additional payments increased by an average of 6.5% per month. At the same time, there is significant inequality both among the deputy state secretaries themselves and between ministries: in three ministries, the total amount of additional payments exceeded only 10,000 euros, while in others it reached almost 80,000 euros.
While the Saeima is considering the state budget project for the next year, the question arises again as to how fairly the so-called unified remuneration system is implemented in public administration.
According to payment accounting data provided to the program "What is happening in Latvia?" by the State Chancellery, this year there were 49 people in the positions of deputy state secretaries in the ministries. Since the ministries submit data to the payment accounting system in different formats, the summarized information from the State Chancellery allows for the identification of specific amounts received by individual officials only partially.
A year ago, during a discussion about salaries in the public sector on the program "What is happening in Latvia?" the head of the State Chancellery, Raivis Kronbergs, stated that "individuals performing the same functions should receive remuneration of the same level." He also mentioned that the chancellery would develop a corresponding procedure, but this would not happen in one year. In practice, however, this year the payments to deputy state secretaries do not indicate progress in leveling the amount of additional payments.
In the Ministry of Finance, deputy state secretaries received additional payments in the form of monetary rewards, performance bonuses, payments for achieving strategic goals, and overtime pay. The total amount of additional payments over eight months was almost 80,000 euros. Additional payments in the Ministry of Economics amounted to 68,900 euros, in the Ministry of the Interior - 62,600 euros, in the Ministry of Transport - 57,300 euros, in the Ministry of Smart Governance and Regional Development - 56,900 euros, in the Ministry of Culture - 10,400 euros, in the Ministry of Justice - 12,100 euros, and in the Ministry of Education and Science - 12,500 euros.
