26 March 2020

2020- n° 81

In 2018, the average net wage in the civil service declined by 1.0 % in real terms Wages in the public - year 2018

In the whole civil services, all status combined (without military, nursery and family assistants, hospital interns and externs and apprentices), the average net wage in full-time equivalent (FTE) was 2,300 euros in 2018. It increased by 0.9% in nominal terms between 2017 and 2018 (after +1.9% between 2016 and 2017). This increase in nominal terms reflects individual wage progressions, but also – as a result of promotions, retirements and recruitments – job structure changes in the civil service, in particular in terms of status (for example decrease in the number of subsidised contracts). The slowdown in wages in 2018 stems particularly from the absence of revaluation of the remuneration index, after two successive increases of 0.6%, in July 2016 and in February 2017. It is also explained by the postponement to 2019 of the continued application of the protocol on the career and remuneration in the public service for civil servants and, to a lesser extent, by the restoration of the one-day waiting delay in case of sick leave.

The average gross wage increased by 2.0% in nominal terms in 2018 (after + 2.2%). The difference in dynamics between gross and net wages in 2018 is mainly explained by the 1.7 point increase in the universal social security contribution rate. Its effect was notably offset by the introduction of a compensatory allowance specific to the public service, the abolition of the exceptional solidarity contribution and, for contractual workers only, of the health insurance contribution. Beyond these measures, the lower dynamism of net wages, compared to gross wages, also comes, as in previous years, from the increase in the pension contribution rate for civil servants (+0.3 point in 2018), in compliance with the 2010 pension reform.

Given the rise in inflation (+1.9% after +1.0%), the average net wage decreased in 2018 by 1.0% in real terms, after having increased by 0.9% in 2017.

In the State civil service (SCS), within ministries or national public institutions, the average net wage in FTE declined by 1.2% in real terms. It was 2,570 euros per month in 2018.

In the local civil service (LCS), the average net salary in FTE decreased by 0.9% in real terms and was worth 1,960 euros per month in 2018.

In the hospital civil service (HCS), which includes staff of hospitals and medico-social institutions, the average net wage in FTE decreased by 1.0% in real terms. It was 2,310 euros per month in 2018.

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, six state civil servants in ten belong to category A, for only one in three of HCS agents, and one in ten agents in the LCS. In contrast, three in four local civil servants and half of hospital civil servants belong to category C, against one in five in the SCS.

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 career effect related to seniority. Other events can cause individual ARWP to fluctuate, such as compensated overtime work hours, time-saving account buybacks, back pays, work stoppages, etc. This indicator has a 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 covers near two-thirds of the civils servants, taking into account the importance of labour flows (entries into the civil service, exits, changes of employer) and changes in working quotity.

In 2018, in the civil service, the net ARWP was almost stable in real terms (–0.1% after +2.0 % in 2017). It hardly rose in the SCS (+0.1%), decreased in the LCS (–0.4%) and was stable in the HCS.