An analysis carried out by the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR in Spanish), “Challenges for the modernization of the remuneration scheme in the ministries” which was published today, revealed huge differences in the salaries from one Ministry to the other.

The analysis was done for the Legislative Assembly, with the purpose of offering technical data and information that will serve as support and enrich the debate of the fiscal plan.

“There are serious differences in the salaries in the remunerative scheme of the Government’s Ministries, which is a very homogeneous sector in terms of the salary norm that applies, as of numbers from 2016”, states the document by CGR.

Differences in salaries are evident across the board, both in professional and non-professional positions, the difference, for instance, a security guard can make close to $490.00 in one Ministry while a security guard in a different Ministry can make as much as $1800.00.

The Comptroller General of the Republic highlights the importance of revising the evaluation mechanisms related to the performance of each employee and its relation to the remuneration system.

The salary received by employees with the same professional profile doing the same job in two different ministries can differ by as much as $5 thousand dollars.

“The differences in salaries for a same job position are explained mainly by the salary incentives associated directly with the time of service, as it the case with annuities”, explains the report.

In 10 cases, employees in a Ministry have a considerably higher salary than the Minister (as much as $7 thousand), which shows an internal discrepancy between the salary received and the level of responsibility assigned to each person.

According to La Nacion newspaper, “The percentage of incentives paid within the Ministries reach a 44.3% of the total salary, way over the 10% that exists in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), organism which Costa Rica aspires to be part of”.

When compared to the salaries in the private sector, the public service pays considerably higher salaries.