Based upon the request of a reader, FactCheck

decided to analyse the amount of bonuses and salary supplements for ministers and their deputies prior to 2012 as well as the situation as it is now.

According to the Labour Code of Georgia, employee labour remuneration includes salary remuneration, bonuses and salary supplements as envisaged by the law. According to Ordinance N43 of the President of Georgia issued in 2005, the monthly salary remuneration for ministers was set at GEL 3,540 (the ordinance is still in force). In regard to the salary supplement, according to the Law of Georgia on Public Service a public servant is given a salary supplement in the following cases:  when he is tasked by his superior to perform overtime duties or additional duties (including working at night, holidays/weekends and under difficult working conditions). The Prime Minister of Georgia is authorised to issue salary supplements for ministers (Ordinance N54 of the Government of Georgia issued on 7 March 2013).

On 15 March 2013, the then Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, used his legal discretion and decided to give GEL 4,335 as a salary supplement for ministers upon a monthly basis throughout the entire fiscal year. Mr Ivanishvili clarified that ministers could not have unlimited amounts of bonuses and instead they would receive a certain amount of monetary compensation monthly together with their salaries. As a result of this decision, the monthly fixed pay for ministers (with both salary and salary supplement) reached GEL 7,875. Afterwards, the incumbent Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, issued a new decree to decrease the ministerial salary supplement to GEL 2,710. These changes concerned only ministers. In regard to the labour remuneration for deputy ministers, their amounts of bonuses and salary supplements are determined by their superiors.

The salary bonus is a form of financial incentive for the public service. On 15 July 2015, Ordinance N499 of the Government of Georgia on the Determination of the Amount of Bonuses in the Public Service was issued. The ordinance included a specific definition (prior to that, there was no definition) of a bonus. Afterwards, several changes were enacted in the document. The latest change to the ordinance was made on 3 August 2015 according to which a bonus is a labour remuneration for an individual who is employed in the public sector and given for carrying out one’s duties in an exemplary and flawless manner, for long service and integrity and/or for the accomplishment of an especially difficult or very important task. The aforementioned legal act also indicates that the rule of bonuses for members of the Government of Georgia is regulated by the decree of the Prime Minister of Georgia.

The aforementioned ordinance also includes rules governing the frequency and the amount of bonuses. The amount of a bonus given to a public servant cannot exceed the employee’s labour remuneration and can be issued once in a quarter (but not more than three times during a year). The exception to this rule can be made upon the motivated mediation of the head of the Public Service Agency.

In order to determine the amounts of bonuses and salary supplements issued to ministers and their deputies in the period of 2011 to the first nine months of 2015, FactCheck

addressed the respective ministries individually. Of note is that the Ministry of Justice publishes this sort of information (from 2012) on its website. We have not yet received the requested information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Education and Science. According to the information of the Ministry of Education and Science, the requested public information is currently being processed although this period amounts to more than two months already.

Table 1: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 89,750 84,464 90,165 75,000 56,250
Salary 42,480 42,480 42,480 42,480 31,860
Bonus 47,270 41,984 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 32,520 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 214,210 402,874 182,233 256,445 247,645
Salary 102,720 214,386 133,320 147,295 123,175
Bonus 111,490 188,488 26,913 7,380 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 22,000 101,770 124,470

Table 2: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Finance (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 106,198 125,641 90,165 75,000 56,250
Salary 42,318 42,634 42,480 42,480 31,860
Bonus 23,010 42,780 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 40,870 40,227 43,350 32,520 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 716,882 478,515 314,646 406,737 236 602
Salary 252,895 154,915 106,256 140,587 86,842
Bonus 284,720 235,120 29,670 39,430 4,800
Salary Supplements 179,267 88,480 178,720 226,720 144,960

Table 3: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Defence (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 59,737 51,986 125,556 105,204 77,722
Salary 42,480 42,478 42,480 42,480 35,400
Bonus 2,389 0 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 14,868 9,508 78,741 62,724 42,322
Deputy Ministers(total) 369,350 324,978 310,616 325,739 175,281
Salary 115,774 129,167 127,772 140,617 83,829
Bonus 203,530 144,516 0 0 0
Salary Supplement 50,046 51,295 182,844 185,122 91,452

Table 4: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Corrections (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 97,355 86,808 90,165 74,728 59,790
Salary 42,480 42,303 42,480 42,326 35,400
Bonus 54,875 44,505 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 32,402 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 240,892 257,000 308,352 257,740 98,480
Salary 98,682 101,940 127,472 110,287 51,600
Bonus 142,210 155,060 0 86,020 650
Salary Supplement 0 0 180,880 61,433 46,230

Table 5: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 84,960 72,600 86,625 75,000 56,250
Salary 42,480 31,860 38,940 42,480 31,860
Bonus 42,480 40,740 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 4,3350 32,520 24,390
Deputy Ministers(total) 268,913 250,050 195,690 260,409 153,510
Salary 133,320 127,880 119,720 133,320 78,230
Bonus 135,593 122,170 75,970 127,089 8,390
Salary Supplement 0 0 0 0 66,890

Table 6: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 84,960 67,904 93,115 71,768 56,250
Salary 42,480 36,044 42,480 40,649 31,860
Bonus 42,480 31,860 7,285 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 31,119 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 174,598 220,726 153,142 227,968 153,132
Salary 79,564 104,576 69,724 106,789 70,689
Bonus 95,034 116,150 46,160 17,630 12,585
Salary Supplement 0 0 37,258 103,549 69,858

Table 7: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Justice (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total)   42,479 89,996 87,500 56,250
Salary 42,479 42,311 42,480 31,860
Bonus 0 4,335 12,500 0
Salary Supplement 0 43,350 32,520 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total)     363,449 466,018 253,521
Salary 335,638 405,523 238,101
Bonus 27,811 60,495 15,420
Salary Supplement 0 0 0

Table 8: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 89,959 88,789 86,230 83,750 56,250
Salary 42,479 42,569 42,480 41,772 31,860
Bonus 47,480 46,220 400 10,000 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 31,978 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 448,623 80,247 424,857 307,480 264,830
Salary 193,383 32,852 181,463 132,065 125,458
Bonus 241,080 36,775 229,510 125,535 13,830
Salary Supplement 14,160 10,620 13,884 49,880 125,542
  Table 9: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Agriculture (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 54,229 85,764 85,342 29,521 56,250
Salary 42,479 41,514 39,825 18,681 31,860
Bonus 11,750 44,250 4,335 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 41,182 10,840 24,390
Deputy Ministers (total) 163,220 178,628 277,269 216,546 280,719
Salary 105,970 160,706 144,524 135,019 123,865
Bonus 57,250 17,922 132,745 81,527 32,989
Salary Supplement 0 0 0 54,293 123,865
  Table 10: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 88,500 95,014 90,165 75,000 53,540
Salary 42,480 41,514 42,480 42,480 31,860
Bonus 46,020 53,500 0 0 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 47,685 32,520 21,680
Deputy Ministers(total) 281,500 341,961 217,984 198,617 137,215
Salary 133,320 121,208 106,864 97,297 65,495
Bonus 148,180 220,753 111,020 54,850 9,160
Salary Supplement 0 0 0 46,470 62,560
  Table 11: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 121,400 102,800 92,042 70,330 62,500
Salary 42,480 43,250 41,997 39,695 35,400
Bonus 78,920 59,550 6,695 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 30,635 27,100
Deputy Ministers (total) 308,250 266,494 192,691 218,044 235,035
Salary 133,320 119,108 93,335 112,895 111,100
Bonus 174,930 147,386 99,356 105,149 12,835
Salary Supplement 0 0 0 49,463 111,100
  Table 12: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 77,820 75,777 90,415 77,445 59,790
Salary 42,480 42,517 42,480 43,865 35,400
Bonus 35,340 33,260 4,585 2,710 0
Salary Supplement 0 0 43,350 30,870 24,390
Deputy Ministers(total) 170,642 140,909 152,704 228,655 171,414
Salary 99,452 86,569 87,294 131,303 85,446
Bonus 71,190 54,340 65,410 55,540 1,125
Salary Supplement 41,812 84,843
  Table 13: 

Amount of Labour Remuneration Issued at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (GEL)

Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Minister (total) 95,128 103,543 90,165 75,000 56,250
Salary
Bonus
Salary Supplement
Deputy Ministers (total) 427,460 407,358 280,663 305,440 220,580
Salary
Bonus
Salary Supplement

In order to compare the amount of labour remuneration issued in the years of 2011-2012 and the number in 2013-2014, FactCheck

summed the data according to the respective years. We have taken 12 different ministries for comparison (see the tables above). In 2011-2012, the amount of labour remuneration for ministers and deputy ministers was GEL 9,225,366 in total. In the period of 2013-2014, this number was GEL 8,218,463 which is 10% less than the amount issued in 2011-2012.

In regard to labour remuneration issued for ministers per se, in 2011-2012 the amount comprised GEL 2,091,086 whilst labour remuneration for ministers decreased by 4% and reached GEL 1,997,896 in 2013-2014.

FactCheck

also verified whether or not the amounts of bonuses and salary supplements increased after 2011. We analysed the data of 11 ministries (we did not have complete information from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources). In total, the number was GEL 4,473,891 in 2011-2012 and GEL 3,873,245 in 2013-2014 which is 12% less as compared to the number of 2011-2012.

According to the obtained information, the amount of labour remuneration together with bonuses and salary supplements for ministers and deputy ministers showed an annual decrease from 2011 and including 2014. If we look at the data of the last four years, the amounts of bonuses and salary supplements issued for ministers and deputy ministers in the period of 2013-2014 is lower as compared to 2011-2012. Therefore, to say that bonuses and salary supplements for ministers and deputy ministers have increased under the incumbent government is not correct.

However, even though the rule for giving bonuses and the amount of the bonus is considered to be regulated, it is still unclear how the giving of a salary supplement corresponds to the existing law. Additionally, the ceiling for the salary supplements for ministerial staff officials (with the exception of the minister himself) is still undefined. The aforementioned data illustrate that salary supplements are given within various ministries upon a regular basis and apart from the fact that salary supplements have practically replaced bonuses, the giving of salary supplements does not correspond to the context of the law. Specifically, it is impossible to know beforehand what the workload of this or that official will be (including ministers who have their salary supplement ceiling defined).

FactCheck is continuing to work on this topic.