Recommendations from the Fair Defence Pay Campaign
In light of the higher priority given by EUROMIL members to issues such as military personnel salaries, allowances, working conditions and problems with recruitment and retention, EUROMIL conduted the “Fair Defence Pay Campaign”, from October 2019 to April 2020, to raise awareness about the current situation on salaries and allowances in the European armed forces.
During the campaign, EUROMIL advocated for a military salary to be at least comparable to the levels of payments in public services.
In the report of the campaign, EUROMIL recommends, among others, the need for members of the armed forces to be granted the right to freedom of association without restriction. In this respect, collective bargaining is paramount in order to defend their working and social conditions.
Since low salaries generally diminish the attractiveness of the military career, EUROMIL finally demands an investment in the working conditions of military personnel, including salaries and allowances, as part of the increase in defence budgets.
To read the full text of the report, please click here.
Country profiles
It is not easy to compare salaries throughout European countries for several reasons. The standards of living differ in the different European countries, the tax systems are different and the rationale how military promotions work, and salaries are raised differ. With the figures below, we try to give an indication of what the situation is like, but the reader needs to take the difficulties mentioned above into account.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 25.000 €
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 41.000 €
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 31.500 €
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 55.000 €
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 52.000 €
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 70.000 €
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? They get a more or less similar salary.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? 2003
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? They are negotiated with the military trade unions.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 1000 €
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: At this moment soldiers will have left from army after 10 years without taking salary, so they have to be employed somewhere.
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 1000 €
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 3000 €
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 2500 €
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 3500 €
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? Less.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? They raised on 2017 after breaking the control by International Monetary Fund in Cyprus.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? It depends on the situation. Sometimes we are not aware about the salaries issues.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: DKK 21.807
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: DKK 23.670
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: DKK 24.375
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: DKK 31.006
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: No member.
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: No member.
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? Less.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? 1 October 2019
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? Yes, we have the right to negotiation as a trade union.
Denmark (status February 2020, answered by HKKF)
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: DKK 21.938
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: DKK 23.214
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: No member.
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: No member.
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: No member.
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: No member.
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? Less.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? 1 October 2019
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? Yes, we have the right to negotiation as a trade union.
*Note: The Gross Salaries here referred are per month.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 1044 €
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 2269 €
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 985 €
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 2445 €
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 1235 €
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 1525 €
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? Compared to similar functions in the public sector, the military personnel is paid less than civilian state employees, especially the officers. It is certainly not easy to compare salaries because there are special allowances for certain specialties such as special forces, pilots, missions abroad etc. However, provided that we do not calculate extra allowances, the salaries of the military personnel are generally slightly lower.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? The salaries lowered for the last time in 2017.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? PFEARFU demands social dialogue for salaries and allowances. Last year PFEARFU undertook a court action in order to bring salaries back to 2012 levels. The Council of State will soon rule on constitutionality of salary cuts in 2017. The salaries are currently determined by the government and the parliament without any consultation. However, we have to certainly take into account the fact that the legislation of the trade-unionism was adopted very recently.
On 1 February 2020, during their Board Meeting, PFEARFU presented and supported the Fair Defence Pay Campaign of EUROMIL. Please find here the letter of the President of PFEARFU, Major Dimitrios Rotas.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: * Privates have a starting pay of 27,913.16 Euro gross before taxes and charges*
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: Currently, the top of the scale private will earn 36,816 Euro +allowances. A Corporal at the top of the scale earns 39,337 Euro gross*
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 37,631.69 Euro gross before taxes and charges*
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 54,612.10 Euro gross before tax and charges*
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: Depending on qualification/type of appointment starting pay = 35,868 Euro to 42,936 Euro. The maximum ranges from 45,915 Euro to 78,239 Euro. A Military Service Allowance of 4,730 Euro is also payable to all.*
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: Depending on qualification type of appointment starting pay 72,000 Euro to 105,100 Euro. The maximum ranges form 80,250 Euro to 113,860 Euro. A Military Service Allowance of 5,106 Euro is also payable to all.*
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? This is a complex question when hours worked are considered. In certain circumstances far less in other circumstances comparable. However, the nature of military duties- responsibilities must also be considered when making any determination. 85% of Irish Defence Force personnel are paid less than the public sector norm. Average salaries in the Irish Defence Force is 39K Euro whereas it is 45K Euro in the rest of the public sector.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? Following a series of cuts ranging (20-25%) from 2009 to 2012 pay is being gradually restored. The latest increase is due (1.75%) on the 31 Sep 2019. By the end of the current pay agreement (Dec 2020), approximately 90% of all public employees will have their pay restored to 2008 levels. The last increases occurred in 2018 – 1% increase in annualised all salaries from 01 Jan 2018 and 1% increase in annualised all salaries from 01 Oct 2018.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? PDFORRA: Generally, negotiations take place centrally with our Association being effectively excluded. the recent pay recommendation by the Public Sector Pay Commission was completed on the basis of submissions by the parties and without negotiation. RACO: Technically both RACO and PDFORRA attend national pay talks. But due to the complete dominance of the Public Sector Unions with a right to strike, it is RACO experience that we get very little if any traction at national pay talks. In essence, whatever general pay award is to be awarded, will also be applied to military personnel. But individual unions have secured further increases by means of ‘side-deals’ with their local management which are then revealed and endorsed as part of the overall national pay agreement. The lack of side-deals for commissioned officers has resulted in RACO seeking the setting up of an independent statutory (annual) Pay Review Body (a la the UK’s AF-PRB) rather than a right to strike).
*It should be noted that public sector employees pay a 10% levy from all salaries as a pension contribution.
Please find the official document here.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: The current regulations for the recruitment of the staff of the Armed Forces, Law of 23/08/2004 n. 226, offer a wide range of answers to this question.
- Regarding the troops and ranks, it must be considered that the first classification in the FF.AA takes place through a four-year confirmation (VFP4) with the qualification of “volunteer”, not in permanent service and subjected to a possible dismissal to the expire of the confirmation. The economic treatment is paid monthly on the basis of the days of actual service. The same is calculated on a percentage of the basic salary of a graduate in SPE (Permanent Effective Service).
- From the VFP4 basin, through internal competitions, the graduates in SPE, initial grade 1st Corporal, receive an annual remuneration calculated in parameters, and therefore are subjected to periodic contractual renewals.
- Until the basic degree of the role of belonging is reached, the Officer students as well as the Marshal students are classified, at the remuneration level, according to the rules of the VFP4.
EXPLANATORY TABLE – Updated to Presidential Decree of 15/03/2018 n. 40
| Volunteer with fixed stop (VFP4) | 74% of the base salary of a 1st caporal /die | €37,36 gross per day €990 gross per month (average) |
| Officer students and Marshal students | as above | as above |
1st Major Caporal (SPE) €18.739,76 gross per year
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: Today there is no precedent on retired troop personnel. Prior to the establishment of the Volunteers, the aforementioned law 226/04 provided only for cadres (officers and non-commissioned officers) in permanent service. The birth of the professional soldier figure dates back to 2004 and the regulations in force to access retirement require a minimum of 41 contributory years and a registry age of 58 years; therefore, any graduate in SPE currently receives the pension allowance. The first retirements for this role are scheduled for the year 2040.
Not being able to have certain data, but applying the analysts predictions and Welfare technicians, a simulation of what will happen in 20 years can be attempted. Based on current regulations (law of 30/07/2010 nr. 122, law of 15/07/2011 nr. 148 and law of 22/12/2011), the hypothesis of pension income of the role graded SPE, on the basis of assessments drawn from an authoritative source in the sector (The “Qui Finanza” magazine) for the year 2040, based on the amount of the compulsory contributions managed by INPS, the annual revaluations and the penalization coefficients linked to the registry age, the percentage of retirement income will be 64.7% of the last salary.
EXPLANATORY TABLE – This table was drawn up considering the current salary of the maximum degree achievable in the graduated role, applying the percentage of 64.7% assumed by the magazine “qui Finanza” in 2040.
Corporal Major elected – special qualification:
- Last salary per year: €21.633,08 gross
- Percentage hypothesized: 64.7%
- Annual pension €13.996.60 gross
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO:
EXPLANATORY TABLE – Updated to Presidential Decree of 15/03/2018 n. 40
NCO’s role
- NCO: €22.211,74 gross annual
- 1st Lieutenant (final rank of NCO’s): €26.351,40 gross annual
SERGEANTS role
- Sergeant (initial rank): €20.787,34 gross annual
- Sergeant Mayor Chief special qualification (final rank): €23.324,55 gross annual
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: Currently, following the Law of 08/08/1995 nr. 335 “Reform of the compulsory and complementary pension system”, there is a provisional pension calculation system. As a matter of fact, this law resulted in the creation of three distinct bands for processing the pension amount:
- Those who had matured up to 18 contributory years as of 31/12/1995 maintained access to the retirement pension, which was calculated by attributing the percentage of 2% for each year accrued in order to reach, after 80 contributory years, the percentage of 80% of the last remuneration received in service. This method of calculation is no longer applied;
- Anyone who had less than 18 contributory years at 31/12/1995, the pension calculation is carried out with a mixed system. His pension is calculated as follows:
– Years of service prior to 31/12/95, with the remuneration system, 2% for each year;
– The years from 01/01/1996 with the contribution system, or with the pension accrued through the amount of the contributions paid from 01/01/1996 up to the date of retirement. This is the temporary system in place at the moment. As the years go by, the periods with remuneration calculation will decrease until they disappear. - All those who have a seniority of service after 01/01/1996, only the contribution system will be applied. This method has not yet been applied and the first pensions calculated exclusively with this system are expected to start in 2030.
The retirement pension calculation table follows, calculated with a mixed system, with the total percentage of calculation based on projections from the magazine “Pensione Oggi”.
EXPLANATORY TABLE (Elaboration of gross pension, with mixed system on maximum pay achievable in career for the role of marshals)
1st Leutenant:
- Last basic salary: €26.351,40 gross annual
- Mixed system cumulative percentage: 76,8%
- Basic pension: € 20.23787 gross annual
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: According to the latest Presidential Decree 40/2018, the basic salary of a first-named lieutenant is 26,351.40 Euro gross per year.
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: According to the Legislative Decree 94/2017, the economic classification of the officers promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel has been modified with the division according to the length of service (with effect from 01/01/2018). In the explanatory table, salaries have been separated from the contracted personnel on the basis of the parameters and inserted in the salary adjustments tables of the senior officers and general officers (Legislative Decree 94/2017 art.10 paragraph 1 letters g-h-i-l).
EXPLANATORY TABLE – Updated to Legislative Decree 94/2017
Lieutenant colonel with 23 years of service since his appointment as an officer: €33.837,38 gross annual
Lieutenant colonel with 18 years of service since his appointment as an officer: €26.100,00 gross annual
Lieutenant colonel with 13 years of service since his appointment as an officer: €23.290,00 gross annual
Lieutenant colonel: €19.00,00 gross annual
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks: Until the entry into force of Law 226/04, there were officers and non-commissioned officers within the Armed Forces. The requirements for enrollment were very different from the current ones and this caused few problems for the personnel declared unsuitable for unconditional military service, who passed through the civilian role, lacking the basic requirements for being able to have recognized the equivalent functional level covered in service in civil public administrations. Today the situation is more homogeneous and can be summarized as follows:
- Ranks of troops and sergeants (with at least a secondary school diploma) comparable to public employees included in the Legal Category “B”
- Marshals (with a university degree obtained in the training process at military training institutes) comparable to public employees included in the Legal Category “C”
- Officers (with a specialist degree) comparable to public employees included in the Legal Category “D”
In order to make a comparison as reliable as possible, we take the lowest economic position of state administrations, with the minimum grade salary of the role in question, as an example.
| Public employee legal category B economic position 1 |
€18.034,08 Gross annual | 1st Major Corporal | €18.739,76 Gross annual |
| Public employee legal category B economic position 5 |
€19.669,80 Gross annual | Sergeant | €20.787,39 Gross annual |
| Public employee legal category C economic position 1 |
€20.344,08 Gross annual | Marshal | €22.211,74 Gross annual |
| Public employee legal category B economic position 1 |
€22.135,44 Gross annual | Lieutenant | €26.351,40 Gross annual |
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? With the D.P.R. n. 40 of 15/03/2018, the final plan for non-managerial military personnel was launched for the 2016-2018 three-year period. This renewal, which was divided into four tranches of gradual revaluation of the salary base (01/01/2016 – 01/01 / 2017 – 01/10/2017 – 01/01/2018) and became fully operational on 01/01/2018, expires on 31/12/2018. The table below compares the basic salary of a 1st major corporal on 31/12/2015 and that of the same grade on 01/01/2018. Considering that a revaluation of the parametric value is applied to non-managerial staff during the contract renewal phase, it can be deduced that even if the monetary difference increases for the individual grades, the percentage of revaluation of the salary is the same for everyone.
| Rank | Salary as of 31/12/2015 | Salary as of 01/01/2018 | Monetary variation | Percentage change |
| 1st Major Corporal | €17.485 Gross annual | €18.739,76 Gross annual | +€ 1.254,76 | + 7,17 % |
| Marshal | €20.725,70 Gross annual | €22.211,74 Gross annual | +€ 1.486,04 | + 7,17% |
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? The determination of contractual renewals currently takes place through a consultation with the COCER of the 5 Armed Forces, the highest level of military representations established with law no. 382 of 11/07/78. This body has no contractual power: in fact the contract is decided and signed by the Defense General Staff. The historical associations and trade union acronyms created following the Constitutional Court sentence 120/2018, have no contractual power in the absence of a specific law on the operation of the trade union associations themselves.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: * 583,56€ + 147,76€ = 731,34€
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 837,60€ + 198,56€ = 1.036,16€ (Contracted Corporal after six years of service);
1.458,94€ + 322,83€ = 1.781,77€ (Professional Senior Corporal after 40 years of service – only in the Navy).
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 1.252,97€ + 281, 63€ = 1.534,60€ (OR-5)
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 1.922,37€ + 415,51€ = 2.337,88€ (OR-9)
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 1.510,43€ + 313,13€ = 1.823,56€
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 2.540,27€ + 539,09€ = 3.079,36€
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? It is rather difficult to establish a comparison with the majority of the cases. However, in general, the military personnel are payed less than some comparable functions in the public sector.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? On 1 January 2010 (after Law Decree 296/2009, 14Oct)
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? Our associations do not negotiate with the government when salaries are determined. We do not take part in any collective negotiation with binding agreements.
*Note: The Gross Salaries here referred are per month
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 545€ (495€ +50€: allowance for duty, transport allowance, allowance for fieldwork, etc.)
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 344€ (by 2018, professional soldiers could not exercise their right to retire so this is the assumed pension amount because we do not yet have such a case in practice)*
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 672€ (582€ + 90€: allowance for duty, transport allowance, allowance for fieldwork, compensation for rent, etc.)
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 512 €*
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 802€ (712€ + 90€: allowance for duty, transport allowance, allowance for fieldwork, compensation for rent, etc.)
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel:1083€ (913€ + 170€: allowance for duty, transport allowance, allowance for fieldwork, compensation for rent)
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? It is quite difficult to compare the pay ratio in most cases due to the diversity of occupations in the public sector as well as specific occupations within the military itself. If we take the average salary in the public sector and the average salary for most members of the military, it can be said that about 50% – 55% of soldiers receive less pay than public sector employees. It is also characteristic that for some similar or same occupations (certainly not the same job description by default), soldiers are much less paid. These inequalities were supposed to be resolved by adopting the “Law on the Public Sector Employee Wage System”, which has a good platform but has been delayed since 2016.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time?
October 2014.g. – 10%
March 2016.g. + 2%
Decembar 2016.g. + 6%
January 2018.g. + 10%
January 2019.g. + 9%
December 2019.g. + 9% *
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? The government sets the parameters for the indicative method of calculating salaries and allowances, while the Ministry of Defence more precisely determines the amounts and method of payment. Our union is involved in negotiating and proposing to the Ministry of Defence about the method of calculation and the amount of salary and allowances, but such negotiations are not binding on the employer. In spite of this fact, we were able to fight for certain allowances, e.g. influence on their amount (cash gift on the occasion of the new year for children of employees, possibility of refinancing home loans, solidarity assistance for childbirth, paid injury insurance, etc. ). There is a serious tendency of the government that since 2014 defines all legal provisions regarding salaries and allowances so that they are not binding (for example, although there is a legal framework, members of the military do not receive warm meals and recourse). The most characteristic example is the avoidance of the employer to comply with the law governing the method of determining the base for calculation of wages (which is the basis for calculation of most allowances), which regulates that it should not be less than 75% of the average monthly salary in the Republic of Serbia. Two years ago, the said provision was reorganized so that the employer could apply it according to the above (but “if there are funds in the budget”) and, there will be soon an amendment that will release the employer from the obligation to determine the amount of the base on a monthly basis. Due to the above, the base is usually smaller than prescribed.
*Note: because of promotion, it is not necessary for a professional soldier to retire in the highest rank – as a junior sergeant.
*Note: because of the way of promotion, it is not necessary for the NCO to earn the highest rank pension – warrant officer 1st class. It is more common for the NCO to retire in the lower ranks – warrant officer or senior sergeant 1st class.
*Note: salary increases in the public sector, and therefore in the military, are most often the result of political decisions, not the real financial capabilities of the employer but also the needs of employees. Most often, increases occur just before the election.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 1.084,50 €
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 1.258,50€/soldier, 1.452,50€/corporal
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: 1.446,50 €
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 2.531,50 €
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: 1.492,50 €
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 2.783 €
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? After comparing: military personnel – active duty professional soldiers are paid more.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? Only raised. January, 1st 2019 and July, 1st 2019. Next – January, 1st 2020.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? ZVSR is accepted partner. MoD used to ask our association for giving comments in a process of preparing new or updated legislative.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: armed forces 1.070,8 €, Civil Guard 1.306,3 € (armed forces -55%)
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career:
Corporal Mayor (permanent) (OR-5) 1.849 € / armed forces -45% 36 years of duty and before taxes
First Corporal (permanent) (OR-4) 1.740 € / armed forces -48% 36 years of duty and before taxes
Corporal (permanent) (OR-3) 1.636 € After / armed forces -50% 36 years of duty and before taxes
First Corporal (temporary) (OR-4) 1.409 € / armed forces -50% 21 years of duty and before taxes
Corporal (temporary) (OR-3) 1.306 € / armed forces -53% 21 years of duty and before taxes
Private (temporary) (OR-1) 1.203 € / armed forces -55% 21 years of duty and before taxes
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: armed forces 1.726,4 € Civil Guard 2.667,1 € / armed forces -35% 36 years of duty and before taxes.
*Note: a sergeant has normally the 80% of them around 8 years of duty when finishing the 3 years academy of NCO (but they are commissioned)
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career:
Sergeant OR-6 armed forces 2.169 € Civil Guard 3.000 € / armed forces -35% 36 years of duty and before taxes
Sergeant first class OR-7 2.280 € Civil Guard 3.166 € / armed forces -33% 36 years of duty and before taxes
Master Sergeant OR-8 2.403 € Civil Guard 3.243 € / armed forces -30% 36 years of duty and before taxes
Warrant Officer OR-9 2.601 € Civil Guard 3.464 € / armed forces -29% 36 years of duty and before taxes
Senior Warrant officer OR-9 2.753 € Civil Guard 3,564 € / armed forces -26% 36 years of duty and before taxes
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: Lieutenant OF-2 armed forces 2.134,4 € Civil Guard 3.194,9 € / armed forces -34%
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: Lieutenant Colonel OF-4 armed forces 2.730,5 € Civil Guard 3.653,5 € / armed forces – 25% 36 years of duty and before taxes
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? According to the information reported by AUME to the COPERFAS and comparing the salaries between the armed forces and the State Security Policy Forces (the Civil Guard and the National Police), the armed forces are paid between -50% to -43% of the full salary bases between OR-3 until OR-5 case, the NCOs are paid -35% to -26% and the officers are paid around -35% to -20%.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? AUME is a member of the Social Summit which includes the main Unions and Associations of Spain, and related the full range of professions and branches of working areas. The last report sent to the Parliament by the Social Summit concluded that the civil servants in Spain have lost a total of their 28% of the salary since the crisis, plus the armed forces in particular around a 5% more because of the unsuccessful implementation to the salary complements, despite another Ministries applied raises on complements to their civil servants. In 2019 they raised 2,5%.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? The law in Spain does not allow a military association to negotiate with the government or the MoD. We can present proposals to the political parties or to the MoD through the COPERFAS in order to raise an issue or gap, as well as to recommend actions or solutions. Indeed AUME has been the association who has presented the main and more complete proposal on wages in the armed forces to the COPERFAS, political parties and the media. The proposal sent to the COPERFAS by AUME can be found here.
Spain (status December 2019, answered by ATME)
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 359.59 € per month during your training period as a schoolchild. 1016.59 € per month as soon as you acquire the status of private.
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: There are two types of labor relations, a permanent service relationship making an opposition to 14 years of service, and another temporary service relationship up to 45 years.
Corporal Mayor (permanent) (OR-5): 1513,4 €
First Corporal (permanent) (OR-4): 1404,2 €
Corporal (permanent) (OR-3): 1302,1 €
First Corporal (temporary) (OR-4): 1276,0 €
Corporal (temporary) (OR-3): 1173,9 €
Private (temporary) (OR-1): 1070,8 €
*Note: The salaries here referred are per month and it is needed to add two extra payments per year.
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? It is rather difficult to establish a comparison with the majority of the cases, but compared to the Civil Guard, belonging to a State Security Corps of a military nature in some tasks, it is between -43% and -50%.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? According to the salary base without complements (764,19 € permanent service relationship and 636,01 € temporary service relationship), 2.25% in 2019.
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? Military associations cannot negotiate their salary with the government, neither can they be syndicated.
1. Basic gross salary of a soldier joining the armed forces: 988 €
2. Basic gross salary of a soldier/corporal leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 2400 €
3. Basic gross salary of a sergeant NCO: Between 1412 and 2633 €
4. Basic gross salary of the highest NCO rank leaving the armed forces after a full military career: 3526 €
5. Basic gross salary of an officer in the rank of Lieutenant: Between 2424 and 3864 €
6. Basic gross salary of an officer who was just promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel: 5000 €
7. Compared to similar functions in the public sector, are military personnel payed more or less than civilian state employees with comparable qualifications and tasks? Less.
8. When were the military salaries raised or lowered for the last time? 1 April 2019
9. Does your association have a say when it comes to negotiating salaries and allowances (i.e. how are salaries determined: by the parliament, by the government, after or without consultation / negotiation of military associations and trade unions?)? Yes.