A gap in remuneration for members of port councils

As a result of the work of the Remuneration Commission, a gap is emerging between the fees paid to board members and the chairman of the municipal self-government ports. The remuneration for the chairman of the board is changed to follow the general development in the public labor market, while the remuneration for non-executive board members continues to follow the conditions for civil servants in the state. In the Port of Næstved, this change not only means that the chairman of the board will experience a 31.4% increase in remuneration, but also that the chairman's remuneration can increase at a faster pace than the remuneration of the rest of the board. It is the one-off increase in remuneration and the different paces that creates a gap. In connection with the change in remuneration for board chairmen, Jesper Møller Petersen, Port Director of the Port of Næstved, said: "It seems strange to me that there are no single remuneration rules for the chairman and the other board members. For the chairman there are municipal guidelines, while there are state guidelines for the rest of the board." The Ministry of Transport, Housing and Construction will not take any action on the matter for the time being. The Ministry's decision is justified by the fact that remuneration rates are part of the preparatory work leading up to the revision of the Ports Act. "It would be nice to look at simplifying the public pay system" says Port Director, Jesper Møller Petersen, and adds: "The pay system is already highly regulated and extremely bureaucratic. And it doesn't make it any less bureaucratic that the Board has two different pay systems and regulatory methods to keep track of." "Last year we saw 4 automatic salary adjustments of relatively small amounts (10-40 € per month per employee). These small increases are not proportional to the administrative burden they cause" Jesper Møller Petersen concludes. For more information contact the Danish Ports' legal hotline, by Frans Bennetsen, attorney at law at Kirk, Larsen & Ascanius here Or contact Jonatan Sandager Hansen, Communication Consultant at Danish Ports here