Government approves a 3.5 percent wage increase for public sector employees

The outgoing centre-right government has approved a wage increase of 3.5 percent for employees in the public sector due to take effect as of June 1st. The wage hike will apply to some 500,000 people. Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas said the wage hike would not burden the budget excessively since it was a "relatively mild indexation." He said the move was an effort to make up for the decline in real gross pay in the public sector last year.