What is the position of front-line employees in the COVID-19 fight compared to the national average wage?

19 June 2020

A head nurse earns (with all his/her extras) almost as much as the total average salary in Slovakia. Their Czech colleagues are in a slightly better situation. They earn 16 % more per month than the national average. In Hungary, by contrast, head nurses earn significantly less than the national salary. The numbers of payroll websites supported by Paylab.com show the position of first-line employees in terms of salaries. To support the debate on the wages of key workers, a comprehensive wage analysis is now FREE for anyone interested.

The websites Platy.sk, Platy.cz, Fizetesek.hu and Pensjmetr.pl and others associated under the Paylab brand, have been monitoring average wages in specific positions in the Visegrad Four countries, the Balkans, the Baltics, but also around the world for 13 years. Here, people can compare their salary for free and get useful information about average salaries for specific positions.

Where employees or employers are interested in a more comprehensive salary analysis, this can be purchased. However, Paylab.com is now making its valued data available for 16 front-line positions for free so everyone can access the more detailed salary data. In doing this, the portal wants to increase information and awareness about the salaries of employees who are absolutely key for us in extraordinary situations such as the COVID-19 outbreak.

The following positions were marked among the selected positions in the front line:

Doctor, Soldier, Police Officer, Hygiene Officer, Head Nurse, Charge Nurse, Firefighter, Rescuer, Ambulance Paramedic, Public Health Administrator, Practical Nurse, Nurse, Health Care Assistant, Caseworker, Ambulance Driver, Senior Caregiver, Medical Orderly.

Only doctors exceed the average salary in every country

Doctors earn above average national average wages in all countries monitored. Some differences are only slight (Romania, Latvia), elsewhere there is more than 100% difference (Slovenia, Finland).

Soldiers are also relatively high in this ranking. Their salary is higher than the national average wage in almost all of the monitored countries. Although a soldier's salary is high in Slovakia, there are other countries where it does not reach even 80% of the national average (Western Balkans).

Nurses earn the national average salary in most countries. They slightly exceed it in the Czech Republic, and in Estonia they equal it. Even in Western countries, nurses are not remunerated more than the average wage, which is also felt as an injustice by the currently striking employees in France.

Low salaries of caregivers and ambulance drivers

Difficult times in the pandemic were experienced mainly by clients of care homes, who belong to the most endangered group of the population. However, their caregivers are poorly paid, often their wages barely reach the average salary in the national economy (Estonia, Lithuania, Serbia, Germany, Italy). Caregivers in Slovakia, Romania and Croatia are only slightly better off, where the salary is at the level of 60% of the average wage in the country. From this point of view, the best-paid caregivers are in the Czech Republic (74% of the average wage in the country).

Among the very low-paid jobs are also ambulance drivers, whose salary is even lower in several monitored countries than for caregivers.

Free salary report until the end of the year

There are two types of analysis available on Paylab.com:

The analysis for candidates helps people to find out what salary can be expected in a given job, and at the same time candidates can receive valuable advice and tips on salary negotiation.

The second analysis is for employers. It contains comprehensive information about the salary and its components for the selected position. It takes into account work experience, region, company size and other factors that affect wages. The analysis helps employers to set competitive wages for their employees.

Salary report for professionals

In both cases, analysis for all 16 positions outlined above are available free of charge until the end of 2020.