Public-sector managers face salary cuts of up to 35 percent

The Cabinet on Friday approved a decree that puts a ceiling on the remunerations of directors of Spain’s approximately 4,000 state-owned companies that translate into effective pay cuts of between 25 and 35 percent.

The move is part of the government’s austerity drive to bring the country’s public deficit back within the cap of three percent of GDP in 2013. Public-sector workers in general saw their wages reduced by an average five percent under the previous administration of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and remain frozen at those levels.

Managers of large public companies now cannot earn more than 105,000 euros a year in wages and bonuses. The cap for medium-sized companies is 80,000 and for smaller ones 55,000.

Salaries will also be set according to the volume of business, sector and number of workers under the responsibility of the manager. Limits have also been placed on fringe benefits such as housing. The new legislation also imposes restrictions on the number of directors in the boards of public companies.