The Consulta Boccia The fixed roof of 240 thousand euros: temporary measure exceeded by the crisis, now you need a flexible and upgradeable system
After more than a decade, he skips the roof of the maxi public salaries set at 240 thousand euros. The Constitutional Court has declared the rule illegitimate that since 2014 frozen the wages of the top of the public administration, from magistrates to Authorities. According to the Consulta, the fixed threshold is no longer justified by the economic crisis that had motivated its introduction: the character of “extraordinary” and the measure, as formulated, has no longer been compatible, is no longer compatible with the constitution.
A roof born for the emergency
The remuneration limit was introduced in 2011 with the decree-law n. 201, at the height of the sovereign debt crisis. Initially hooked to the salary of the first president of the Court of Cassation, the Standard stood at around 255 thousand euros gross per year. Three years later, in 2014, the legislator decided an additional turn of lives: the threshold was fixed uniformly for all public employees, regardless of the role, to 240 thousand euros. A measure that struck above all the highest bands, in particular the judiciary.
What changes now
According to the Court’s sentence, the principle of a remuneration roof is not in itself unconstitutional. But it must be proportionate, updated and linked to objective criteria. Translated: we return to the original mechanism, which provides for a dynamic connection between the highest salaries of the PA and that of the first president of the Cassation, now equal to 313,080 euros gross per yearincluding the representative allowance.
The new threshold must be established with Decree of the President of the Councilhear the competent parliamentary commissions. And will be subject to periodic reviews.
Effects and timing
The sentence has no retroactive effect: it will not give rise to reimbursements or compensation for those who have seen their salary reduce themselves in the last ten years. But it will have an immediate effect from the day following the publication in the Official Gazette, with important implications for all sectors of the public employment. Employees with remuneration to the maximum limit – or beyond – will be able to see their treatment modified, according to the updated parameter.
A political signal also
The decision rekindles the debate on the value of public work and on the relationship between wages and responsibilities. The Minister of Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo has already underlined the need to enhance the internal skills, even outside the traditional bankruptcy procedures. And the renewal of contracts for managers, under discussion in recent weeks, provides for increases ranging from 580 to 1,500 euros.
Beyond the symbol, the node of resources
The reintroduction of a flexible salary roof represents a responsible choice in a context of penalty on public accounts. While maintaining the budgetary constraints necessary for economic stability, this decision allows you to enhance merit and skills in the top positions, overcoming the fixed limit that in 2014 had been designed as an emergency measure. Today, as the Court points out, the emergency times are behind them and the public administration must evolve, abandoning an automatic and rigid approach to adopt a fairer, meritocratic system and capable of supporting the competitiveness of the country. A reform in line with the vision of government that guides the country towards efficiency and responsibility.
