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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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).