French civil servants set for salary review after Macron win – and Australian officials may be next for post-election pay rise: management & workforce news in brief

By on 28/04/2022 | Updated on 28/04/2022
A picture of French president Emmanuel Macron at an election rally
Photo Alexandre Gamet Flickr

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French civil servants set for salary review after Macron win

Salary scales for civil servants in France are set to be reviewed following Emmanuel Macron’s victory this week in the country’s presidential election.

Macron defeated Marine Le Pen in the run off election on Sunday, and he has pledged to review the salary levels for officials as part of a range of efforts to tackle the rising cost of living.

Marcon pledged earlier this month to undertake “a complete reform of the pay scales and organisation of the civil service”, that would include a revaluation of wage rates so purchasing power can keep pace with inflation, which hit 5.1% in March, a national record.

France’s civil service minister Amélie de Montchalin has said that the review could be completed “before the summer”.

Major parties pledge post-election pay rise for Australian public servants

Both the ruling coalition and the opposition Labor party have indicated Australian public servants could receive pay increases following the country’s election this month.

According to The Australian newspaper, the coalition (which is an alliance of the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia) is holding out the prospect of above-inflation wage increases for Australian Public Service (APS) employees from next financial year, while the Labor opposition has said it “will work to reduce the fragmentation of APS pay and conditions and address, over time, the inequalities resulting from the Morrison government’s failed industrial policies”.

The party has pledged to “engage in fair and genuine negotiations with APS employees and their representatives including on the capacity to negotiate back pay arrangements or date of effect pay rises consistent with other industries and public sector organisations”.

Labor said that the APS should show active leadership in addressing systemic inequality and will take steps to increase the proportions of First Nations peoples in the APS and to address the gender pay gap.

New Zealand government challenges ruling overturning vaccine mandate

The New Zealand government has launched an appeal against a court ruling that vaccine mandates for some public service employees was a breach of their fundamental rights.

The requirement that police and defence force personnel be vaccinated ended after a judgment found it was incompatible with New Zealand’s Bill of Rights

A spokesperson for the government’s Crown Law legal department told the NZ Herald the appeal does not seek to reverse the High Court’s finding, but rather seeks to contest “points of law” in the decision.

“The appeal is in no way an attempt to reverse the removal of mandates… and there is no intention to reinstate those mandates on those workforces,” they said.

UK launches commercial skills training drive for local government

The UK government has launched a programme to help boost contact management across the public sector.

The central Crown Commercial Service and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities programme will boost commercial capability across local government by providing training to effectively manage the key stages of commercial delivery.

Almost 200 council officials will receive the training, with six cohorts of local government officers having begun training across four elements of the programme, which includes learning how to apply and embed resulting skills in their local authorities.

Following completion of the programme, the Cabinet Office’s capability team will select a sample of contracts from participating councils, negotiated after its completion, and monitor how closely and successfully processes are being followed.

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About Richard Johnstone

Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.

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