Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said in the parliament on Thursday that amendments to the law on public sector employees' wages envisage an increase in those wages, notably the lowest ones.

“We are aware of the importance which judicial officers, primarily court reporters, have in the judicial system, and the new law will definitely increase their salaries,” the minister said during a parliamentary debate on a bill on the Register of Employees and the Centralised Payroll System in the public sector.

The minister thus responded to a question by MP Dalija Oreskovic (Centre), who wanted to know what he had done regarding the wages of employees in the judiciary and Workers’ Front MP Karatina Peovic’s statement that court reporters make merely €600 a month while the judiciary cannot function without civil servants.

Coefficients for court reporters increased several times

The minister agreed with the assessment but noted that it takes time to legally regulate the issue, calling on the civil servants’ union with whose representatives he met on Wednesday to be patient because their wages, notably the lowest ones, would go up under the new law on public sector wages.

He noted that coefficients for court reporters had been raised on several occasions, the last time a month and a half ago.

The new law, which also introduces the obligation to use the Register of Employees and the Centralised Payroll System in the public sector and civil services for all users of the state budget, was welcomed by both the Opposition and the parliamentary majority.

Malenica noted that the new law was crucial for analysing the public sector payroll system and for the strategic planning of human resources.

The obligation to use the Centralised Payroll System is expanded to include all payments from the state budget, not just wages and allowances. “As of now payments such as the second income and other entitlements as well as the second income and other allowances to independent contractors will be made through the Centralised Payroll System,” the minister said.