Government employees in Quebec earn higher wages, enjoy more job security and retire earlier than their private-sector counterparts, a new study by the Fraser Institute revealed.
On average, Quebec government workers— federal, provincial, and municipal earn 9.1 per cent higher wages compared to private-sector workers surveyed in 2005. The study also remarks on their access to generous non-wage benefits.
For example, a reported 98 per cent of government workers are covered by defined benefit pension plans, while in the public sector, only one in 10 workers has a comparable plan. Government employees also retire 2.8 years earlier than private-sector workers.
The study also finds that employees in Quebec were granted absences or leave for personal reasons almost 72 per cent more often than private sector workers. They are also eight times less likely to lose their jobs in times of economic uncertainty.
However, the Fraser institute explained in a statement that the wage gap “takes into account differences between workers in the public and private sectors such as age, gender, education, tenure, and type of work.”
The detailed report, "Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Quebec," is available on the Fraser Institute's website.
