Ulaanbaatar
Government Takes Steps towards Salary Equality
Politics
Ulaanbaatar, May 17, 2023 /MONTSAME/. At today's Cabinet session, the Prime Minister has issued an order to take measures aimed at equalizing the salaries of employees in the culture, sports, and health sectors with those in the education and science sectors. In accordance with the Culture Law, the Cabinet has approved a procedure for providing cash benefits equivalent to six months' basic salary to cultural sector employees working in rural areas once every five years. The Minister of Culture, Ch. Nomin, and the Minister of Finance, B. Javkhlan, have been tasked with coordinating and financing these measures within the 2023 budget and reflecting the financial source in the annual state budget in the future.
Currently, Mongolia
has 4,470 employees working in 432 rural-owned cultural organizations. According to the
regulation, 70 percent of these employees will receive cash benefits. It is
worth noting that wages in the cultural sector are lower compared to other
public service sectors. Consequently, highly skilled and experienced
professionals in rural cultural institutions are leaving their jobs and
transitioning to other sectors. For instance, music teachers from cultural
centers are moving to secondary schools, and 78 out of 325 employees at 24
locally owned museums have already pursued alternative career paths.
During the Cabinet
meeting, the Prime Minister stressed the need to address the salary disparity
among civil servants and to establish parity between the basic salaries of
employees in the culture, sports, and health sectors and those in the education
and science sectors.
The Ministry of
Culture has consistently submitted proposals to the Ministry of Labor and
Social Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet Secretariat, and the
Standing Committee of Education and Culture of the State Great Khural,
advocating for an increase in the basic salary of cultural sector employees.
Minister of Culture Ch. Nomin, has stated that salaries within the cultural
sector will be gradually increased throughout the current year.
