No one is going to convince me otherwise, public employees work less than those in the private sector. And since they also have better social benefits, it would be normal for their salaries to be lower.
Published at 5:00 a.m.
Wait, I’m not saying that public sector employees are dragging their feet, not at all. I know several who work very hard. Except that on average, the hours they devote to work are fewer, that’s it.
I’m not the only one who feels this way. And by the way, it’s not just an impression, it’s the reality described, among other things, in the latest report on remuneration from the Institut de la tourisme du Québec (ISQ), published Thursday.
Each year, the ISQ compares the remuneration of Quebec government employees to that of the private sector and other public administrations (municipal, federal, university, etc.).
To get the overall picture, the ITQ takes into account not only salaries, but also the value of social benefits, notably the famous retirement plan.1. The work is meticulous and very credible.
Why am I talking to you about working hours then? Because precisely, to make the comparison, this remuneration is reduced per hour of work. However, as government employees work shorter weeks, taking these hours into account significantly changes the situation in the analysis.
On average, therefore, it is municipal employees who work the least (35.3 hours per week), or 2.7 hours less than the 38 hours in the private sector. Quebec government employees work 35.8 hours on average, or 2.2 hours less than in the private sector.
And when we take into account leave and vacation, the actual working hours over 52 weeks are on average 30.5 hours for employees in the Quebec public sector, or 2.7 hours less than in the private sector.
The advantage over the private sector is greater for technical jobs (3.1 fewer hours of work) and office jobs (3.2 hours) than for service jobs (1.2 hours) and manual workers (1.2 hours). 8 a.m.). The gap between state professionals and the private sector is 2.8 hours per week, when we take into account, once again, leave and vacations.
That said, what is the pay gap? What is this gap, especially, since the Quebec government granted its employees increases of 6.8% in April 2023 and 2.8% in April 2024 during the last negotiations?
Good question. In 2024, the average salary of Quebec administration employees is $60,909. It’s not that high, but it covers all experience levels and job categories, from entry-level receptionist ($43,229) to high-level lawyer ($130,853).
This average salary of $60,909 is 11.4% lower than that of the market analyzed and the unfavorable gap varies from 8% with the private sector to 20.4% with the municipal sector.
The comparison is always made for the same 74 comparable jobs in 5 categories for organizations of 200 employees or more1.
As I said, it is normal for employees to earn less if they work less, especially if, in addition, they benefit from a generous retirement plan.
However, precisely by taking into account this overall remuneration PER HOUR worked – including social benefits such as retirement – the ISQ notes that the unfavorable gap in the Quebec public administration drops to 2.1% with the rest of the market in 2024.
In other words, since the recent negotiations, we are almost at parity.
The news is important knowing that the Quebec state has been paying less than elsewhere, on average, for a long time. The unfavorable gap was 3.9% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2011, for example.
In 2024, it is only 2.1%, so, and again, the comparison includes the municipal sector, which lives on another planet in terms of remuneration, since the gap with the Quebec public sector is still there. today… by 28.2%!
The most important thing, in my opinion, is the comparison with the private sector. On this subject, the ISQ notes that Quebec administration employees now have an advantage over those in the private sector, with overall remuneration per hour 5.8% higher, on average.
Now, the averages, as you know, hide sometimes significant disparities, in this case between types of jobs. Thus, while technical, professional and office employees in Quebec earn between 5 and 7% more than in the private sector – all inclusive – those in services earn 12.2% more (janitors, heavy maintenance workers , etc.).
Above all, state workers still make 15.2% less than in the private sector, which remains significant despite a certain improvement (the gap was 23% before the latest negotiations).
Many readers will remind me that public job security has a great value, which should be added to the picture. I agree.
Except that this value is less important today, with a low unemployment rate, than 25 years ago. And on this subject, the ISQ reminds me that the bonuses sometimes offered to private sector employees are not added to the figures of the study, which therefore compensates for the permanence in the public sector, in a way.
Come on, I’ll leave you, I have to go to work…
1. The comparison of the ISQ in 2024 concerns 74 jobs comparable with the private and other public sectors for 5 job categories bringing together 86,972 government employees. Among the criteria, the organizations compared must have 200 or more employees, so they are not small businesses. We do not find teachers and nurses there, who have no equivalents elsewhere in Quebec in organizations of similar size.
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