Malta has been placed fairly down on a European league table of median employee earnings.
It is in 28th place, with its earnings relativity established at 21. Ahead of it, in ascending order come Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus (Greek part) Andorra, San Marino, Austria, Italy, Iceland, Gibraltar, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, Faroe Islands, Finland, Jersey, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Isle of Man, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Norway, and Denmark on top.
The Federation of European Employers’ annual Pay in Europe report provides benchmark salary data for 48 European countries. Each table contains 32 standard job positions in two categories of company size or type. Hourly pay is presented in the form of a midpoint and spread to reflect the range for each job.
The tables may be used to produce a framework for pay relativities and an initial market guide when establishing a new operation in a particular European country. They will also be of value to those with established operations who require an objective reference point during pay negotiations, annual reviews or for general salary administration purposes.
The richest country Denmark pays 65x the median pay of the poorest Moldova
The pay gap between Europe’s richest and poorest countries has fallen significantly over the last six years. According to the report, the gross median hourly earnings of employees in Denmark were 65 times (65x) higher than in Moldova on 1 February 2007. This compares with a pay gap of 70x in 2006 and 91x in 2001.
Since 2001, all countries in the bottom half of the FedEE league table, except Poland and Portugal, have been able to narrow the gap with Denmark.
Higher up in the league table, however, there have been falls in relative earnings in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and the UK. Norway has now taken the number two spot from Luxembourg, with relative earnings climbing from 71per cent of Denmark’s in 2001 to 90 per cent in 2007.
The report also reveals differences in pay between those in senior management positions and those in unskilled service sector positions in individual countries. This differential varies from 12.9x in Moldova and 11x in Latvia to just 3.9x in Norway and 4.1x in Malta and 4.4 in Ireland.