23 March 2017

2017- n° 81

In 2015, the average net wage rose in real terms by 0.4% in the State civil service, by 0.8% in the local civil service and by 0.6% in the hospital civil service. The average remuneration of workers in place rose in the three civil services. Wages in the public - year 2015

At the end of 2015, the civil service employed 5.65 million persons-tenured civil servants, contract employees, other categories and beneficiaries of subsidised contracts. The annual variation their average wage reflects individual wage progressions, but also job structure changes in the civil service, particularly in terms of status (for example, variation in subsidised contracts employment volume) and in terms of age (because of retirements and recruitments).

In the State civil service (SCS), all status combined (excluding the military) within ministries and public institutions, the average net wage in full-time equivalent (FTE) rose by 0.4% in real terms between 2014 and 2015. Its rise is the same in nominal terms, because inflation is close to zero. It reached 2,490 euros per month in average.

In the local civil service (LCS, excluding the military, nursery and family assistants), the average net wage in FTE increased by +0.8% between 2014 and 2015, in real terms as in nominal terms. It reached 1,890 euros per month in 2015.

In the hospital civil service (HCS) which includes staff of hospitals and medico-social institutions (excluding hospital interns and externs), the average net wage in FTE rose by 0.6% in real terms (+0.7% in nominal terms) between 2014 and 2015. It reached 2,240 euros per month in 2015.

In 2015, the differences in variation between net wages and gross wages (about −0.4 percentage points) is explained in particular by the rise in the contribution rate of employee retirement in civil service(progressive alignment towards the private sector rates). Gaps in wage levels between the three civil services result mainly from different structures in terms of category, status and types of jobs held. Indeed, nearly 60% state civil servants belong to category A, for only 30% of HCS agents, and 10% of agents in the LCS. In contrast, 75% of local civil servants and half of hospital civil servants belong to category C compared with 20% in the SCS.

The variation in the average net wage in civil service in 2014 has been slightly revised. Indeed, the calculation method of the FTE wages has been reviewed to homogenise it between the three civil services. Thereby, levels and variations in wages in the past are not directly comparable to those published last year in Informations Rapides n°79 on 24 March 2016. For example, the variation in the average net wage in real terms between 2013 and 2014 is raised by 0.1 points for LCS.

The average remuneration of workers in place (ARWP) measures the average variation in wages of the civil servants present for two complete consecutive years. Therefore it reflects the individual development in earned wages, including a – positive – career effect related to seniority. This indicator has a narrow scope which excludes entries and exits and is limited to the agents present for two complete and consecutive years with the same employer and the same work quotity. It therefore covers two-thirds of the civils servants, taking into account the importance of labor flows (entries into the civil service, exits, changes of employer) and changes in working quotity.

In the State civil service, the nominal net ARWP increased by 1.9%, i.e. 1.8% in real terms.

In the local civil service, the net ARWP rose by 1.7% in nominal terms and real terms.

In the hospital civil service, the nominal net ARWP went up by 2.0%, which constitutes a rise of 1.9% in real terms.