BiH Police Union Expects Decision on 2019 Salary Base for Employees in BiH Institutions

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Bearing in mind that the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with Article 7 of the Law on Salaries and Allowances in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is obliged to determine the base amount for calculating salaries of employees in BiH institutions for 2019 by June 30, 2018, the Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a letter to the Council of Ministers requesting that the base for calculating salaries of employees in BiH institutions for 2019, relative to the base for 2018, be adjusted for the cumulative inflation rate for the period 2012-2016.

Namely, the base for calculating salaries of employees in BiH institutions, set at 475.69 BAM in 2012, following a protocol signed by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the then sole representative union, the Independent Union of State and Police Officers and Employees in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Judiciary, and Public Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the signatories agreed that the adopted base amount for salary calculation would be adjusted for 2014 at most by the percentage of the annual inflation rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2012, and that the possibility of increasing the daily hot meal allowance from 6 BAM to 7 BAM would be considered.

The provisions of the mentioned protocol, except for the reduction of the base, have never been implemented.

According to official data from the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, salaries increased by 9.2% in the period from 2010 to 2018, while salaries of employees in BiH institutions were reduced by 11.7% in 2012 and have remained unchanged since then.

If we take into account the reduction in hot meal allowance, holiday pay, and the new method of calculating transportation costs to and from work, which, according to the opinion of the BiH Ombudsman, was not adopted in accordance with the current law, total income has been reduced by 17% to 25%.

At the same time, the price of the consumer basket increased from 1,570.00 BAM to 1,850.00 BAM, or by 15%, so the total negative difference is 32% to 40%, depending on the category of employees.

Simultaneously, observing the period from 2012 to 2018, the average salary of employees in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina increased by 7.5%, while the average salary of employees in the Republika Srpska increased by 3.5%.

Furthermore, it is noticeable that the Council of Ministers has in the past made savings in the Budget of BiH institutions exclusively through salaries and allowances of employees in BiH institutions, while all other budget items remained unchanged.

Due to this situation, we have recently witnessed a drain of personnel from police agencies at the state level, which directly affects security and the quality of work performance.

Bearing in mind all the above, the Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a letter addressed to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requested that when determining the base for calculating salaries of employees in BiH institutions for 2019, it act in accordance with the 2012 agreement and adjust the base amount for 2018 of 475.69 BAM for the cumulative inflation rate for the period 2012-2016.

- We note that the Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 21, 2018, sent a letter to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina requesting an urgent organization of a joint meeting to initiate dialogue on all important issues concerning the employment status and salaries of employees in police agencies at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the said letter, we highlighted that a number of problems, primarily of an existential nature, have accumulated in the past period, which need to be addressed in order to stop the drain of personnel observed in all three police agencies.

Given that the Council of Ministers of BiH ignored the mentioned request, with this new letter, the Union of Police Bodies in BiH has again requested, in its capacity as a representative union, to establish social dialogue with the Council of Ministers of BiH in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Labor in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Law on Salaries in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and international regulations and Conventions ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina, through which all accumulated problems will be resolved.

Finally, we emphasize that the Union of Police Bodies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is ready to use all legally permitted means to exercise established rights with the aim of protecting and improving the status of its members - the statement said.