“I’ll give half for food. With the rest, I will pay for the apartment, food for the children – that’s 1,400 in the school canteen for two children – phone, insurance – that’s another three or four thousand. I’ll have about three thousand left over for everything else,” calculates Lenka, the recorder of the Děčín District Court.
Recorders, protocol clerks, bailiffs and other court employees complain about extremely low salaries in the judiciary. Last year, the average salary of court employees was less than 37 thousand crowns, i.e. six thousand below the average salary in the Czech Republic. However, many employees in the judiciary do not even come close to these amounts.
18.5 thousand net
Lucie shows the pay stubs she and her colleague received last month. They sit together in the same office.
The recorder with two years of experience has a gross income of less than 22 thousand, i.e. 18,661 crowns net salary. A recorder with twenty-two years of experience has a net salary of only four thousand more. Their manager takes almost four thousand more after sixteen years of experience: 26,354 crowns.
Photo: List of News
A recorder with two years of experience earns 18,661 crowns net.
Photo: List of News
After 22 years, the court recorder takes 22,654 crowns net.
Photo: List of News
A manager with 16 years of experience has a net salary of 26,354 crowns.
“One looks at the discounts in the store. Now, for example, I have to deal with paying 12,000 for a camp for children. I will pay for it, but my boyfriend will then pay for what he will miss,” says her colleague from the Děčín court. “It sounds good that you’re doing it in court, but what’s the point. No one believes us, everyone compares it to judges’ salaries,” says colleague Lenka.
That is why some employees are running away from justice. Recorders and other clerks are usually heavily financially dependent on their partners.
They don’t even have rent
“Girls who are alone and still have to pay rent for an apartment are in the worst situation. The colleague remained alone, fortunately childless, but she was unable to make ends meet with this money. She had to find a rental apartment, for which she paid, for example, 13,000 per month. And she had a net salary of 18 thousand. She had almost nothing left, she had to resign,” Lucie describes.
And he is preparing for a strike that could break out in May. For now, the employees are on strike alert.
“We just don’t come to work. And we are also in favor of the strike being longer, even if we lose money. If it’s a one-day strike, it won’t be known as much. The judges are with us, they will certainly not act. They won’t record anything, because then it’s just extra work with transcription. They would simply cancel the negotiations,” hopes Eva.
“We know you can’t make a living out of it”
Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek (ODS) said last week that he hopes that there will be no strike. However, he has not yet agreed with the Minister of Finance on further salary increases for judicial employees.
Last year, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Petr Šuk, negotiated a salary increase of 1,500 to 1,700 crowns gross with the Ministry of Finance.
“We know from the very beginning that this is not enough, that this is a compromise that is simply not enough. And now the employees themselves are standing up and, for the first time in history, they are dramatically saying that it is not enough, that they are not able to make a living from it, and that either the government will give them more or they will leave the judiciary,” says Šuk for Seznam Zprávy.
And his words are also confirmed by other representatives of the Czech courts. The situation is bad in the long term in larger cities with more expensive rental housing.
“More than 100 people de facto left the Prague courts alone in the first four months of this year. And that of the most important ones, such as recorders, protocol clerks, senior court officials. This is a similar type of staff as, for example, qualified nurses in hospitals,” says Michael Mrzkoš, director of the Administration of the Municipal Court in Prague.
President of the court: The strike is complete paralysis
In recent years, the situation is bad even in smaller cities, where living expenses are lower. For example, the Regional Court in Hradec Králové has been dealing with employee departures for several years. Until now, however, it concerned the lowest-paid positions, such as recorders, auxiliary service personnel or drivers, explains Regional Court President Vladimír Lanžhotský.
“This year, positions from court administration are also leaving, for example, now it’s a fresh accountant. For a long time, we have had problems with the recruitment of youth workers, even we in the regions can no longer compete there. Colleagues in Prague had problems filling these positions much earlier, so far we have only marginally so far,” says Lanžhotský.
He is sympathetic to employees who are about to strike. After all, people from the management of courts across the country express their support.
“As the leadership of the court, we consulted about a possible strike. The absence of some positions, for example recording clerks, means a complete paralysis of the court’s activity, and this is a truly threatening idea for us. In short, the people in the judiciary were rather her fans for years, they were poorly evaluated. Elsewhere they would have received much more, and yet they remained in the judiciary. But some simply won’t give it any longer,” says the chairman of the Hradec Králové regional court.
Will there be mass layoffs?
The situation is bad across the country. Moreover, it has noticeably worsened in recent months, explains Jana Stejskalová, president of the District Court of Prague-Vychod.
“What we struggle with is a huge turnover of people. 20 percent of our employees leave every year, which in our circumstances is roughly 15 people. We’re currently halfway through April and I’ve already had seven people leave. It is becoming more and more difficult to recruit new people, simply no one applies,” says Stejskalová.
The courts are still functioning without the departing employees. So far, according to Stejskála, the judge has not adjourned the hearing because he lacks a recorder or because he could not find a technician to play the evidence.
“It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s thanks to the personal bravery of the people who are willing to stay here. If there is no salary increase, I will not be surprised if there are mass dismissals,” warns the president of the court.
