Government bodies with wage deviations decreased in 10 years from 62% to 10.5%

According to Bar-Natan, the activity of the enforcement unit saved the state treasury NIS 309 million in 2006, 2017 alone and brought total actuarial savings of about NIS 6 billion since its establishment.The enforcement unit in the Ministry of Finance's payroll division was established in 1997 and headed by Etty Gabay Morali, senior deputy to the wages supervisor for enforcement affairs.
The annual report published by the Ministry of Finance attests to a downward trend in the extent of wage deviations: if at the time of establishment of the unit in 1997, the rate of bodies with wage deviations was 62% of all reporting bodies, this year the rate dropped to 10.5%. The sector in which the highest level of irregularities is the supported bodies, which includes non-profit organizations and institutions of higher education, also saw a significant decrease in the extent of the phenomenon: only 17% of the subsidized bodies found wage deviations compared to 33% last year.
The savings figures of public funds also indicate a decrease: in 2017 the activity of the enforcement unit saved NIS 309 million, of which NIS 11 million was actually returned to the treasury, and the rest - actuarial savings. In 2006, the total saving amounted to NIS 1.3 billion, of which NIS 21 million was actually returned to the state coffers.
Expenditure on wages constitutes a significant part of public expenditure. Hence the great importance of the enforcement unit, which serves as one of the gatekeepers of the public coffers. In its operations, the unit has saved NIS 1.7 billion in the past three years and has saved over NIS 6 billion in salary expenses since its establishment. Only this year, the unit saved NIS 309 million, a sum that is returned to the public coffers. In addition, as a result of the intervention of enforcement in legal cases in the courts, additional expenses of hundreds of thousands of shekels from the public coffers are avoided.
In his letter to the Knesset speaker, the Supervisor of Wages, Kobi Bar-Natan stresses the importance of enforcement work in maintaining the public coffers: "The activities of the units contribute to maintaining the public coffers, leading to significant savings in money and allowing the government to designate them for the public welfare." "In order to streamline the work of enforcement and wage investigations and to help reduce wage irregularities in public bodies, we are in the process of strengthening the division's digital capabilities. In this framework, the databases were expanded, the use of innovative statistical tools and the implementation of technological work processes to identify wage irregularities. I would point out that although the process of halting the deviation of wages and the return of excess amounts is very complex and has many difficulties, it is usually done with the consent of the parties, while showing sensitivity and consideration in different circumstances. "