Paradoxical as it may seem, in the legislation there is still no clear wording who belongs to the category of public sector employees. Why this is not spelled out in the law remains a mystery, but in the legal acts regulating labor relations, the term itself is present, although not in a direct form.
How to understand who belongs to public sector employees?
The most important criterion by which it can be understood that you or your acquaintances are workers in this field is the remuneration of labor, more precisely, the source of the receipt of funds for its repayment. If the transfer is made from the budget, then you are related to state-funded workers, that is, state employees.
Money can be allocated from budgets of three levels:
- municipal;
- regional;
- state.
But regardless of the level from which funding is provided, this does not affect the legal status of the worker. In any case, he remains an employee of the public sector. We will analyze who this is in detail below.
Typical representatives of the public sector
The bulk of the people in this category are maintenance and management personnel in government institutions. Below is an indicative list of those who are considered a public sector employee in Russia.
- Employees of the tax inspection, performing an important function in the state of replenishment of the regional and state budget.
- Customs and Treasury.
- Health workers, with the exception of private clinics.
- Education workers, with the exception of teachers working in private schools and gymnasiums.
- Social Services.
- Military personnel, with the exception of conscripts.
- Police officers, scientists, etc.
Now we see who it is — public sector workers, and we understand the importance for the state of support and financing of citizens of this category. It should be noted that in addition to allocating funds from the budget for labor remuneration, various benefits are also provided, including the improvement of housing conditions. Although in fairness it’s worth recognizing that here everything is not going smoothly today.
The number of state employees
Today, the total number of citizens employed in the public sector exceeds 14 million. Of these, 3.7 million work in state institutions at the federal level, the rest - in institutions at the regional and municipal levels.
As you can see, the total number of employees is a significant figure, which means a great burden on the budget.
We also note that all expenses related to financing persons related to public sector employees are always included in the budget expenditures. Therefore, in cases where there are delays in the payment of wages or other disruptions in financing, the fault lies directly with the persons responsible for this.
What is the wage of
For all employees, the tariff rate and the amount of salary that they receive is set. Salary amounts can vary greatly, depending on the position, length of service, place of residence, etc. Salaries of public sector employees are largely dependent on the place of work.
It is no secret that in the capital and large cities, teachers, doctors and workers of other specialties classified as state employees receive more than their colleagues in the regions. And this is one of the problems that the state still cannot solve.
But the remuneration of public sector employees may also depend on other factors. So, allowances are laid for combination of posts, overfulfillment of the monthly volume of work, qualifications.Incentive incentives for employees by management through cash bonuses can also be applied.
In some regions, more significant monetary allowances are due, since the living conditions there are obviously worse and require more expenses. An example is Norilsk, which belongs to the northern regions. There, wages are higher, but the cost of housing and communal services is also significantly higher than the average Russian.
Wages are indexed regularly, taking into account inflation and the established cost of living. But as practice shows, often payment in many categories of public sector employees is insufficient for an acceptable standard of living today.
The average wage in the country
According to statistics, public sector workers who do not know this earn on average less than all other citizens employed in commercial and private spheres of activity. And interest from potential job seekers in vacancies in this area is also lower. Over the past year, the number of requests for these specialties amounted to 3.6% of the total. This clearly shows that among the able-bodied population, vacancies in the public sector do not stand in the first place when looking for work.
The average salary in 2017 amounted to 29 thousand rubles, which is also lower than the average salary in the whole country.
The difference in income levels is clearly shown by the statistics of the average salary by city: in Moscow this indicator is the highest (41 thousand), and the lowest is recorded in Omsk (16 thousand). As the saying goes — comments are superfluous, it’s worth adding that usually in rural areas and regional centers wage levels are lower than in regional centers.
Budget issues
Now, knowing who these are employees of the public sector, and what their earnings are made up of, it is necessary to mention other problems that have matured in this area.
One of the most pressing issues is the obsolescence of equipment and technology in schools, hospitals and other institutions. This problem is especially relevant in sparsely populated areas, although in large cities, too, not everything is going smoothly.
Another issue is the lack of professional staff, which is also more noticeable in small cities. The reason is simple, here the level of salaries is lower than in megalopolises, and there are practically no prospects. Everyone who graduates from universities and other educational institutions, seek to gain a foothold in their specialty in big cities. However, this problem is also characteristic of the non-budget sphere of employment.
And finally, we say that such an indicator as "average wage" is very arbitrary, because it consists of the smallest and largest pay, on the basis of which the average value is derived.