How much do teachers and clerks earn? The whole truth about wages in the budget sector
A change of government is slowly coming, because there is no indication that Mateusz Morawiecki will find the support of the majority of the Sejm. The first votes have already shown that the cards in the new term are dealt by the coalition of KO, Third Way and New Left. One of the symbolic moments for her was signing the coalition agreement.
Its content confirms the announcements made during the election campaign, in which the willingness to introduce significant increases in the budget, which has been neglected for years, was very strongly expressed.
— Today, the problem is low-paid work. Teachers must get 30 percent. raises, and the budget sector 20 percent. – said Donald Tusk during the debate on TVP.
In turn, the coalition agreement includes the following provision: “One of the most important tasks of the coalition will be to support professions that are key to the functioning of the country and the future of our children. The coalition parties confirm the urgent need for pay raises for teachers, public service employees, including administration, courts and prosecutor’s offices. Low wages push people out of the profession who ensure the continuity of our country’s operation and the education of children and youth. We will stop and reverse this process. Appropriate legal acts ensuring the increases will be submitted within the first hundred days of the government..
Due to these declarations, we checked in Business Insider how teachers and other public sector employees currently earn. There is a topic around this a lot of myths and understatements. Statutory rates are often used, but the reality is different.
The rest of the article is below the video
How much do teachers earn?
Most of the talk about pay raises is about teachers. The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP) is always very active in this matter. However, when asked how much the people who teach our children earn, he avoids answering, referring to the Ministry of Education and Science.
— As a trade union, we do not use average wages, but basic wages, which is defined by MEiN in the so-called wage regulation. This is not an average known from mathematics lessons, but a legal construction – says Magdalena Kaszulanis, spokeswoman of the Polish Teachers’ Union, in an interview with Business Insider.
See also: The coalition promises teachers pay raises. This is how much it will cost
He emphasizes that the amounts of average teachers’ remuneration cannot in any way be equated with teachers’ salary. He explains that the average remuneration of teachers is a theoretical legal construction consisting of many elements (e.g. allowances, periodic awards), some of which are not even remuneration, such as retirement and disability benefits.
— The average salary is therefore artificially high – he points out.
What does the Ministry of Education and Science say about teachers’ salaries? Points out that the minimum basic salary that a teacher can receive is determined annually in a regulation and currently, in the case of a teacher with a master’s degree and pedagogical training, it is for:
- beginner teacher: 3 thousand PLN 690 gross (in 2015: trainee teacher – PLN 2,265, contract teacher – PLN 2,331, and from September 1, 2020: trainee teacher – PLN 2,949, contract teacher – PLN 3,34)
- appointed teacher: 3 thousand PLN 890 gross (in 2015: PLN 2,647, and from September 1, 2020: PLN 3,445)
- certified teacher: 4 thousand PLN 550 gross (in 2015: PLN 3,109, and from September 1, 2020: PLN 4,460)
The basic salary is one of the elements of a teacher’s remuneration. As indicated by MEiN, in accordance with Art. 30 section 3 of the Teacher’s Card Act and the base amount for teachers specified in the Budget Act, the average salary of teachers is currently as follows:
- beginner teacher: 4 thousand PLN 777 gross (in 2015: trainee teacher – PLN 2,717, contract teacher – PLN 3,16, and from September 1, 2020: trainee teacher – PLN 3,537, contract teacher – PLN 3,926)
- appointed teacher: 5 thousand PLN 733 gross (in 2015: PLN 3,913, and from September 1, 2020: PLN 5,940)
- certified teacher: 7 thousand PLN 326 gross (in 2015: PLN 5,000, and from September 1, 2020: PLN 6,509)
— However, it should be noted that not every individual teacher is expected to achieve the average salary. This level is to be achieved by teachers from the entire promotion group together, emphasizes Adrianna Całus-Polak, spokeswoman for MEiN.
These are all official amounts. We also checked the earnings declared by teachers themselves National Salary Survey (OBW) — the largest study of this type and regularly updated by Sedlak & Sedlak. There the median (the value for which exactly half of the declared amounts are lower and exactly half are higher) for a nominated teacher it is PLN 5,000. PLN 180 gross. In turn, 50 percent indications range from 4,000. 290 to 6 thousand PLN 260 gross.
In a similar study, median earnings for certified teachers it is PLN 5,000. PLN 830 gross, and 50 percent declares that he receives PLN 5,000. 160 to 7 thousand PLN 110 gross.
How much do you earn in the budget sector?
Not only teachers can count on raises from the new government. Let’s start with the fact that budgetary is a common name for institutions financed in full or in part by the State Treasury. These may also be institutions operating under the supervision of local government units.
The workplaces most often referred to as budget work include, among others: social welfare homes, public education institutions, health care, uniformed services, government institutions and social assistance points.
Earnings in ZUS
Recently, the Trade Union Trade Union Alternative in ZUS has been striving hard for raises. However, he did not answer our questions about the salaries of officials. The situation was described by the ZUS spokesman.
— About 44,000 people work at ZUS. employees. Over the last four years, wages have been increased on an unprecedented scale. Only in the years 2015-2020, the fund for the remuneration of our employees increased by almost PLN 1 billion, says Paweł Żebrowski, ZUS spokesman, in an interview with Business Insider.
He adds that over the last year, the plant’s employees received two increases in basic salaries. It calculates that the increase in the average monthly basic salary in the period between April 30, 2022 and April 30, 2023 is on average PLN 1,000. PLN 335 gross for a full-time job, which is 27.6 percent. average salary. Although the spokesman did not directly indicate the average salary, it appears that it is approximately PLN 4,000. PLN 837 gross.
Meanwhile National Salary Survey indicates the median earnings of social security officials are 5 thousand PLN 160 gross. Half of the declarations are in the range of PLN 4,000. PLN 350 to PLN 6,000 PLN 40 gross.
Earnings of social workers
Some of the worst paid people in the public sector are social workers. The Management Board of the Polish Federation of Social Workers and Social Welfare does not provide current, exact earnings amounts. However, in response to our questions, he points out that “conservative estimates indicate that about 70 percent social welfare workers receive remuneration equal to or close to the minimum wage“At the moment, the national minimum is PLN 3,600 gross.
Trade unions show precise calculations for 2021. Then, the total number of social workers they earned an average of PLN 3,000. PLN 452 gross, with the minimum wage applicable at that time being PLN 2,000. PLN 800 gross. The salary of an ordinary social worker was PLN 3,000. PLN 186 gross, and for a senior specialist – PLN 3,000. PLN 685 gross.
The latest statistics from the National Salary Survey from this year suggest that The median salary for social workers is PLN 4,000. PLN 520 gross, where the declarations of half of the respondents ranged from PLN 3,000. 920 to 5 thousand PLN 240 gross.
Earnings of Poczta Polska employees
Just before the elections, there was also a lot of talk about threat of a strike by Poczta Polska employees. Among a number of demands was an increase in basic salaries by PLN 800 per full-time basis. Representatives of postal workers also wanted the minimum wage in the company to be higher than the minimum wage in Poland every year.
How much do you currently earn at Poczta Polska? The Trade Union of Postal Workers admits that it does not have current data and refers it to the company’s spokesman. Until the moment of publication, he did not provide us with such information.
The National Salary Survey for 2023 shows that The median salary of postmen is PLN 3,000. PLN 500 gross, i.e. levels close to the minimum wage.
Earnings of policemen and firefighters
Our requests for current salary statistics for police officers and firefighters remained unanswered by trade unions and the Ministry of Interior and Administration.
Figures publicly disclosed by the police suggest that from March 2023 the minimum salary for a student is PLN 4,000. PLN 223 gross, and the average remuneration for all police officers is PLN 6,000. PLN 893 gross.
What do specific declarations by police officers look like? OBW reports that the median is 6 thousand. PLN 330 gross (this was the average rate at the beginning of the year), but there is also a very large range of amounts, because for 50 percent indications range from 5 thousand. 480 to 8 thousand PLN 720 gross.
On the other hand the average remuneration of firefighters of the State Fire Service due from March 2023 is PLN 7,000. PLN 264 gross (PLN 6,706 gross without the equivalent of the annual bonus).
OBW data show that The median salary of a firefighter is PLN 5,000. PLN 920 gross, where half of the declared amounts range from PLN 4,000. 670 to 6 thousand PLN 920 gross.
Within the budget sector, there are many other larger and smaller groups of employees. We asked the National Agreement of Trade Unions, which actively supports employees in their fight for pay raises, for statistics on average wages in the largest of them. However, so far we have not received such data.
Author: Damian Słomski, journalist of Business Insider Polska
