The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and armed forces personnel receive their salary on time. The procedures for the payment of the salaries are defined in the guidelines issued by the minister of finance in accordance with the Law on the Management of Budgetary Systems [1], the Law on Financial Management and Control [2], and the Law on the Annual Budget [3, 4]. Additional instructions define the form, elements and manner of the payrolls [5].

Personnel receive the correct pay. Salaries are transferred to the bank account of each employee. The date of payment is defined in the contract signed between the spending entity and the bank. On very rare occasions, delays of one or two days may occur in cases of combinations of banking holidays and weekends [1, 2].

The payment and allowances system is openly published. The Decision of Council of Ministers on the Payment of Salaries of Active Personnel of the Armed Forces provides detailed pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority and details on how payment is calculated [1]. The permitted allowances are defined in the Law on the Status of the Personnel of the Armed Forces [2]. The expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement are provided in the relevant Decision of Council of Ministers adopted according to the aforementioned law [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. The MoD and Armed Forces Internal Regulation provides separate management responsibilities [10, 11].

Since questions 40A and 40B are closely related, they are answered together.

No evidence could be found that military personnel did not receive their salaries on time. There is also no evidence that the payments of the salary have been inaccurate. No reports in the media, for example on protests, could be found that would indicate that salaries have not been paid on time or were inaccurate. The only information found that is somewhat related to the issue were protests of retired military personnel in 2018 who were demanding higher pensions and other forms of compensation. However, there was no evidence that they did not receive their allocated pensions or that their retirement was inaccurate (1).

Academic research on civil-military relations emphasizes that the financial endowment of the soldiers is important to ensure the loyalty of the armed forces (2), (3). To enhance the cohesion within the military and in order to avoid protests or even defections of military personnel, the Algerian government has an interest in paying salaries accurately on time. That salaries are crucial is underlined by an illustrative example, that happened at the end of 2014 when police officers rioted. In addition to political demands, they were also asking for higher wages. The government responded immediately by raising the salaries of the police, the gendarmeries, military personnel and firefighters (4). With that in mind, there is also no evidence that the government was not able to pay the salaries. Algeria’s economy and its state revenues rely heavily on the income of hydrocarbon exports. Despite low oil prices, the government did not need to undertake austerity measures, including subsidy or pay cuts, as the EIU reported (5).

Since questions 40A and 40B are closely related, they are answered together.

No evidence could be found that military personnel did not receive their salaries on time. There is also no evidence that the payments of the salary have been inaccurate. No reports in the media, for example on protests, could be found that would indicate that salaries have not been paid on time or were inaccurate. The only information found that is somewhat related to the issue were protests of retired military personnel in 2018 who were demanding higher pensions and other forms of compensation. However, there was no evidence that they did not receive their allocated pensions or that their retirement was inaccurate (1).

Academic research on civil-military relations emphasizes that the financial endowment of the soldiers is important to ensure the loyalty of the armed forces (2), (3). To enhance the cohesion within the military and in order to avoid protests or even defections of military personnel, the Algerian government has an interest in paying salaries accurately on time. That salaries are crucial is underlined by an illustrative example, that happened at the end of 2014 when police officers rioted. In addition to political demands, they were also asking for higher wages. The government responded immediately by raising the salaries of the police, the gendarmeries, military personnel and firefighters (4). With that in mind, there is also no evidence that the government was not able to pay the salaries. Algeria’s economy and its state revenues rely heavily on the income of hydrocarbon exports. Despite low oil prices, the government did not need to undertake austerity measures, including subsidy or pay cuts, as the EIU reported (5).

There is no evidence that the system of payments is published. Laws and regulations that stipulate some general rules on remunerations and salaries in the defence sector, such as the Statute of Military Personnel of 2006 (1), do not outline the system of payment. Also, the Code of Military Pensions (2) does not provide any information in this regard. No regulations on how the system of payment works was found for the civilian bureaucracy either. Presidential Decree No. 07-304 (2007) outlines the salary index grid and the compensation scheme for civil servants but no information on the payment system could be found (3). Also, an order on the general status of the civil service does not provide any information (4). No references to other laws, regulations, or orders were found in the mentioned laws which, would suggest that the payment system is published elsewhere.

Since the financial crisis in late 2014, reports on salary delays of public servants, have multiplied. Public complaints among military personnel have been rare, due to restrictions in the Military Crimes Law, Art. 25 punishes “tumultuous group claims” with two to eight years in prison (1), (2).

Officers studying abroad complained in 2017 of significant and regular delays in the payment of their scholarships. According to a media report, in March 2017, 38 soldiers were arrested after 300 soldiers had been fired for complaining over non-payment of their salaries dating back four years (3).

Since the beginning of the financial crisis in late 2014, local media outlets have reported cases of incomplete payments, in addition to salary delays among public servants, which occasionally have exceeded three months. Yet, criticism for delayed or incomplete payments among the police and military is rarely expressed publicly and mostly dealt with internally, for fear of reprisals and dismissal (1). For instance, police have cracked down on the rare public protests of military veterans who have claimed to have overdue pension payments (2).

According to a media report in September 2017, soldiers employed by the President’s Security Bureau have been threatened with imprisonment for complaining about salary delays and salary payments in cash, contrary to established procedures (3), (1).

Pay scales for public servants, including the military, are approved by presidential decree and published in the official gazette (see comment above under Q39A). All payments to public servants are made via bank transfer, based on the Integrated System of Financial Management of the State (SIGFE), this includes military personnel. However, the public pay scales are not disaggregated by seniority and do not include details on how individual pay is calculated (1).

Based on a payment schedule, civilians receive payments on time. However, in relation to the supplementary annual salary (bonus) there have been occasional modifications (advances or delays), as well as increases in fees. [1] [2] In the case of military personnel, there have been delays in payments to personnel deployed in peace missions. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Military personnel receive the correct basic pay in a timely manner. There are differences in the allocation of additional pay and how they are accounted for in the salary. These distortions are sometimes corrected internally while at other times it is done judicially. [1] In this sense, a decision of the Supreme Court in 2019 establishes the incorporation of non-renumerative amounts into the salaries of civil and military personnel of the Armed Forces, considering them bonuses. [2] [3]

Although salary scales are published, this occurs in a more proactive manner in the case of civilian personnel, whereas for military personnel it only occurs through administrative decisions or ministerial resolutions. Only values and categories are known, and there no information on other components of pay, such as non-remunerative allowances. Details on the calculations for individual payments, non-bonus allowances, and other supplements are not made public.

Since 2017, the Integrated Public Employment and Wage Information Base in the National Public Sector (BIEP) of the Ministry of Modernisation is the only official source for human capital information. It offers statistical reports and a personnel search system, information on ranks, and classification of public employment, but no access to payrolls or full scales of all jurisdictions. [1] [2] [3]

Interviews with civil and military personnel confirm that staff receive their salaries in a timely and accurate manner; generally, there are no delays, through bank transfers [1, 2]. The payment should arrive on time, by the 15th of the next month at the latest, as defined by the Labour Code (Article 192) [3].

Interviews with civil and military personnel confirm that staff receive their salaries in a timely and accurate manner; generally, there are no delays, through bank transfers [1, 2]. The payment should arrive on time, by the 15th of the next month at the latest, as defined by the Labour Code (Article 192) [3].

The Law on State Officials Payment regulates the allowances both for military and civil personnel. Article 16 of the law states that the allowances are calculated based on the basic wage times the coefficient for a particular rank. The lists of coefficients for each state institution are provided in the law as annexes, in the case of the defence sector staff its Annex 3 of the law [1]. There is also Decree 712-ն that provides an additional regulation to the allowances of the military staff of the MoD. The decree carefully defines all those cases when additional allowances are to be calculated to the basic wage of the military staff [2].

There is no evidence that late payments have been an issue for Defence in recent years. In 2010, scrutiny from the media and within the Defence community “relating to the delivery of payroll services” in Defence led to the creation of the Australian Defence Force Payroll Remediation Task Force [1]. This Task Force spearheaded the creation of the Defence Payroll Assurance Framework in 2011, which promised to “Help get payroll management right, every time” [2]. Defence finalised an overhaul of its payroll management IT system, PMKeyS, around the end of 2017 [3]. There is no evidence in the media that late payments have been an issue for Defence since the Payroll Assurance Framework was released [4].

There is no evidence that inaccurate payments have been an issue for Defence in recent years. In 2010, scrutiny from the media and within the Defence community “relating to the delivery of payroll services…” in Defence, “including the recent overpayments of the International Campaign Allowance” led to the creation of the Australian Defence Force Payroll Remediation Task Force [1]. This Task Force spearheaded the creation of the Defence Payroll Assurance Framework in 2011, which promised to “Help get payroll management right, every time” [2]. Defence finalised an overhaul of its payroll management IT system, PMKeyS, around the end of 2017 [3]. There is no evidence in the media that inaccurate payments have been an issue for Defence since the Payroll Assurance Framework was released [4].

Most Defence pay information is transparent, including pay brackets for military [1] and civilian personnel [2], how pay is calculated within military ranks [3] and for civilian public servants [4], and permitted allowances and entitlements, including entitlement criteria and caps [2, p 70-77, 5]. However, separated unit, administrative, and audit responsibilities do not appear to be publicly available [6]. Additionally, a recent performance audit on Defence travel allowances by the Australian National Audit Office revealed shortcomings in the administration of and public guidance on travel allowances, saying: “Defence’s collection of policies, procedures and guidance on travel allowances is fragmented and spread across multiple documents, tools and intranet pages,” including information on eligibility and calculation methods [7].

Payment is on time, and there have been no delays recently (1, 2). Some payments to servicemen were delayed until 2013. This includes “money compensation to military servicemen instead of unused vacation” (3), and “triple fare for service on the frontline” (4). However, after the appointment of Zakir Hasanov as defence minister, monetary compensation to military servicemen instead of unused vacation started to be paid. There are constant announcements on the Ministry of Defence website (5).

Military personnel are paid accurately. In recent years, there have been no serious problems (1, 2). However, sometimes in practice payments on some occasions are taken by sergeants, officers and others in return for certain favours, if a soldier refuses, they could be subject to discrimination vis-à-vis those soldiers (3, 4).

The payment system is generally not published, no explanation is given (1). It is not registered as a military secret in the law on state secrets (2).
On the contrary, privileges, concessions and compensations granted by the state to citizens, officials, enterprises, institutions, and organizations are not considered as state secrets (Article 7.0.3).
The latest news on this subject is from 2017. According to the information, the order of monetary compensation for military servicemen has been approved. Military personnel serving in the army and other armed units, as well as in other public bodies, shall be determined by the statutes approved by the heads of these agencies, taking into account their salaries and the types of money they provide.
The Cabinet of Ministers has made such a decision regarding the entry into force of the Referendum Act of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Making Amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan” adopted at the referendum on September 26, 2016 (3). However, this information is general, and there is no detailed information about the payment system (4).

According to interviews, military personnel receive payments on time, and delays, if there are any, are one to three days [1, 2, 3].

Military and civilian personnel receive the correct payment at the right time [1, 2, 3].

There is no data available on payments. There are is no published or publicly available information on the payment and salary systems of the Bahraini Defence Force [1, 2, 3].

Bangladesh introduced an electronic funds transfer system in 2011. All government employees now receive their salaries and pensions on the 1st of every month through the Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN) [1]. Due to the automated system, there are no media reports suggesting that there are any delays in the disbursement of monthly salaries or pay of government officials.

Salary information is accurate at the time of disbursement. Any discrepancies are corrected within the stipulated time period, when reported [1].

The Ministry of Finance publishes salaries, allowances and pension systems, which are based on rank, scale and period of service, as well as information on allowances and entitlements. This includes details on the delegation of financial powers, outlining administrative, department and audit responsibilities. The Ministry also provides an online pay determination system [1].

Monthly pay is always received on time. The risks of delays on pay are very small but there are sometimes issues with premiums and indemnities, which are often paid far too late according to a Union, which says that this is due to understaffing [1]. Research can not find any other instance (2016-2020) of delay with military pay outside of the one mentioned. Additionally, the chief of staff of the army stated in an article that delays are due to understaffing because of COVID-19 and the government’s current affairs, which limit decision-making as no new law or process could be implemented.

Because of a new software programme, payments to approximately 1,000 military personnel happened incorrect or late in January 2021 [2]. Yet, these are not structural issues but rather the temporal consequence of changes in infrastructure.

Research could not find indication in open sources and the media of incorrect payments [1].

Extensive information on pay rates is available on a number of websites. First, the Ministry of Defence websites publishes a general overview of basic pay rates for a number of ranks which are very much recruitment-oriented [1]. Secondly, the union for civilian and military defence personnel (‘Vakbond voor buger en militair defensiepersoneel’) provides detailed tables of pay rate per rank and seniority, including bonuses [2].

Third, the union for the whole government, the ACV Public Services (‘ACV Openbare Diensten’) published a report in 2019 on pay rates, elaborating on current pay rates, providing context, discussing the evolution over time and comparing wages in the defence and private sectors [3]. Last but not least, the Royal Decree on military pay rates is also publicly available and stipulates the financial calulations of pay rate depending on rank, years of service and bonuses [4]. The unit responsible for payment is independent [5]

There has been an example of a delay in paying monthly wages to the members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH), it was documented in the “Dnevni List” (Daily Newspaper), the delay happened due to the large number of the employees employed [1]. Employees that work for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and AFBiH receive their monthly salaries regularly and with no delays. Payroll accounting is done via a centralised information system that is directly connected with the Ministry of Finance and Treasury [2].

Personnel receive the correct payment of their salaries, with the relevant provisions of Paragraph VII (Wages, Allowances and Other Reimbursements) of the Law on the Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the military personnel. Civilian personnel salaries are covered by the Law on Salaries and Allowances in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina [1, 2, 3].

The payment and allowances system is not openly published. The only publicly available data are gross expenses related to salaries of the members of the AFBiH [1].
Salaries are based on a coefficient depending on the position, both civil and military. Additionally depending on the length of employment employees receive 0.5% on top of the basic salary per each year of service (up to 20%), in addition to the specifics of the work, allowances for hot meals, allowances for separation and housing expenses, transportation and other. The publication of the specifics of every element and the full salary paid out could be in breach of the Law on Protection of Private Data, as it could be possible to identify a specific person that received the payment [2].

Pay days for civil servants are known and adhered to almost religiously [1,2].

In 2019, the Government approved the alignment of the Botswana Defence force (BDF) pay structure with that of the public service. Addressing Rakhuna Base Camp BDF members on March 12, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said the changes entailed setting the entry-level for soldiers at the rank of private at B1 instead of the B3 salary scale with effect from April [1]. Dr Masisi said the new structure was a transition from the structure where only 15 professions in the BDF were aligned to the public service pay structure [2]. Furthermore, he said the establishment of a separate pension scheme for the BDF had been circulated to other ministries [2]. There are no issues with wrong pay.

The BDF salary structure was reviewed in 2019, which led to unrest among the soldiers due to the promotion of some diploma holders and increase in their salary while other soldiers, who have served in the same capacity with these soldiers were not promoted and their salary remained the same [1].

The Botswana defence force ranks and salaries are as follows;

Certificate holders (B2) earn P3,372 – P4,044 per month.
C2 level earns P8,041 – P9,237 per month.
The lowest entry earns the B3 salary scale which is P2,808-3,358.
Diploma holders (C4/C3)earn P6,232-P7,448.
Diploma holders (D3 scale) P14,788-P16,326 [2].

The payment system is not publicly disclosed in a high level of detail. As indicated above, the salary structure includes pay brackets for some but not all ranks, disaggregated by seniority. However, it excludes details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from the post. Furthermore, a list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement are not publicly available.

There is no evidence of late payment by the federal government in the last five years in the media [1]. This assertion does not include payments to the military police, that are managed by state governors and, in the view of the assessor, should not be thought of as defence institutions.

There is no evidence of incorrect payment within the armed forces [1].

The basic pay rates of each rank and employee are published online; however, allowances are not made public – they only make the types of allowances and their calculation available [1, 2, 3, 4]. Pay rates are disaggregated by seniority, but the only search available is a one-by-one search – one cannot search for salaries of all employees within a certain rank. The data related to each military public employee shows date of admission, current work agency, travel history and details on how individual pay is calculated.

This indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence.

There is no evidence showing late payment of salary for military personnel and civilian in the MoD. However, according to BTI, “within the security sector, other serious problems already existed under the Compaoré regime. Extensive economic grievances (e.g., poor pay and housing) among the security forces persist despite the government’s efforts to meet their demands (1).

According to Article 19 (1) of Law 038-2016, “the personnel of the Armed Forces have right to a payment while on duty” (2). The salary payment is based on rank, experience in the rank, the qualification and the length of performed services (3). Allowances are given to certain personnel, they can include residential allowances, family allowances and particular allowances based on the nature of work performed and the risk affiliated with the work (1). Any measure that affects the payment system of the public agents is applied to the military with simultaneous effect (4).

The 2018 SIPRI Report states that there has been a 24% increase in Burkina Faso’s military expenditure from 2016 to 2017, which is about $191 million, which includes the payment of the salaries and allowances that apply (3). The 2018 BTI Report states that Burkina Faso’s military expenditures for the past three years were 1.2% of the GDP in 2016, 1.3% in 2015, and 1.4% of the GDP in 2014 (1). Additionally, from 2008 to 2018; Trading Economic’s Burkina Faso Corruption Ranking indicates that “Burkina Faso[‘s] military expenditures (salaries and allowances), is 185.60USD million (5).

This indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence.

The payment system is well-known. Article 19 (2); (3) & (4), provides the public with all the conditions that apply for the calculation of the salary, including the rank, the experience in the rank, the qualification, and the length of the service performed. Additionally, the public is provided with all the items that go into the paystub, including, residential allowances, family allowances, and other particular allowance depending on the nature of the work performed and the affiliated risks. Article 20 of Law 038 (2016) states that the personnel of the armed forces are eligible for social security services (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6).

The salaries of military personnel, especially those of specialised agencies, is one of the top priorities of the country. However, sometimes there may be delays in their payments due to attempts by personnel to forge figures or when military leaders embezzle funds allocated for soldiers [4]. In the early 1990s when the salaries of civil servants were slashed twice, those of the military were not reduced.

However, there have been instances when personnel have not received their dues on time, although this is not usually the norm. In 2015, hundreds of Cameroonian soldiers who served in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) held a demonstration in Yaounde requesting months of unpaid dues [1]. In June 2017, about thirty soldiers were arrested on the orders of the Minister of Defence and accused of staging a mutiny when they went on strike demanding some of their allowances [2]. In September 2015, the then Minister of Defence, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o, warned that “senior military officials who embezzle allowances meant for soldiers fighting Boko Haram in the Far North Region of the country will be tried in military courts” [3].

In addition, Reuters (June 2017) reported that “about fifty armed Cameroonian soldiers demanding unpaid salaries briefly blocked off a major highway in the north of Cameroon on Sunday morning, an army source and the government said. The soldiers, who were at the end of a tour near the border with Chad in Cameroon’s Far North region, demanded two years’ worth of salaries and expenses that they said they were owed” [4].

Issues with accuracy are not common. Sometimes inaccuracies are due to the fact that some soldiers are involved in faking papers to increase their allowances. The Minister of Finance stated that those who had fraudulent birth certificates to increase the number of certificates thy held had problems when the Ministry of Finance moved from a manual to an electronic system [1]. However, senior military officers have embezzled funds allocated for soldiers in the last three years, depriving soldiers of their correct pay [2].

There is no information published describing the payment system of the salaries of military personnel [1] [2].

There are separate pay systems for Civilian and Military personnel. [1] There have been notorious problems throughout the (civilian) public service with the “Phoenix Pay System” developped by IBM and implemented by the Canadian government in 2015, which resulted in massive pay discrepencies (over payments, under payments, prolongued absence of pay and/or benefits etc). The Department of National Defence (DND) noted 76,000 cases of which 37,000 had been resolved by January 2020. [2] As such the timeliness of pay for many employees has been inconsistent with many waiting more than three months to have their issues resolved. However, such issues have not been noted on the military side, as they have held off on updating their pay systems given the problems noted above. [3] Yet, in 2019 the DND Deputy Minister wrote to the Clerk of the Privy Council and outlined what the department was doing to address the outstanding pay issues and plans to bolster internal compensation and pay capabilities within the department, while also addressing the backlog in pay-related complaints on the civilian side of the Department. [4]

There are separate pay systems for Civilian and Military personnel. [1] There have been notorious problems throughout the (civilian) public service with the “Phoenix Pay System” developped by IBM and implemented by the Canadian government in 2015, which resulted in massive pay discrepencies (over payments, under payments, prolongued absence of pay and/or benefits etc). The DND noted 76,000 cases of which 37,000 had been resolved by January 2020. [2] Therefore, the accuracy of pay has been inconsistent and unreliable for many members of the civilian staff for a long period of time.

Despite the issues with the pay system for the civilian staff, there are efforts promoting transparency with the structure and accounting of pay. Pay brackets by ranks are disaggregated by seniority. General information on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post/ away from post, a list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement is provided. [1] [2] [3] There are pay groups for non-commissioned members, general service officers, pilots, senior officers, legal officers, military judges and medical and dental officers, but none clearly indicated for internal audit staff. [2]

There is no evidence of problems with the timeliness of payments in the armed forces and the defence sector, nor have institutional or press reports been found that indicate payment delays [1].

There is no evidence of administrative or other problems related to the accuracy of payments in the armed forces and the defence sector, nor have institutional or press reports been found referencing significant errors in payment [1]. Pay scales for different ranks and grades can be seen online.

The payment and allowances system is regulated by the Statute of the Personnel of the Armed Forces. The Chilean government’s transparency portal for each branch of the armed forces publishes updated figures for payment and allowances [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. It is possible to identify information for pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority, the composition of payments and allowances, and separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities. The entitlement criteria and caps on entitlement are specified in the statute.

There have been no reports in the last 5 years in traditional and social media regarding military personnel not receiving salaries on time or in full. The PLA’s high professionalisation renders this eventuality highly unlikely. [1]

There have been no reports in traditional and social media regarding military personnel not receiving salaries on time or in full. The PLA’s high professionalisation renders this eventuality highly unlikely. [1]

Most pay and allowance structures for military and civilian personnel are publicly available through official regulations and media reports, but detail is lacking. The following elements are available: pay brackets and methods of calculation for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; family allowances and regulations on leave (due to illness or family related reasons. Separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities are not clarified. [1,2,3,4]

According to the source of the Ministry of Defence, uniformed personnel including all forces, Police, non-uniformed personnel receive their payments automatically between the 26th and the 28th of each month in a timely manner. [1] The office responsible for making payments to all forces is the Army Payroll Office, and there do not appear to be reports of delays. Uniformed and non-uniformed personnel have been encouraged to utilise the Line of Honour or the internal control office of the Ministry of Defence to report delays in payments of salaries. According to these complaints, the internal control office has been able to show that the delays are not permanent. The few cases that have been filed have been related to failures in the automatic payment system, were not due to a lack of resources, and were quickly corrected. [1]

Defence sector personnel receive their salaries on time on designated payment days in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Defence and the policies of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, by the Payroll Office. [1] However, there is evidence that irregular payroll discounts occur, with some soldiers reporting that month by month they have received a lower salary after the collection of insurance which they never acquired, such as funeral related policies or legal insurance. In the face of these irregularities, some soldiers have requested clarity about the salary discounts, but have not received replies. The case is in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, but the investigation has made no further progress. [2, 3] As such, there is evidence that, on some occassions, soldiers have received adjustments to their salaries without their consent.

Decree 1002 of 2019 [1] establishes the basic salaries for the officers and sub-officers of the Military Forces; officers, sub-officers, and agents of the National Police; executive level staff of the National Police; and public employees of the Ministry of Defence, Military Forces, and National Police. This regulation also specifies bonuses for Enlists, Midshipmen, Pilots, Cadets, and Soldiers. In addition, it specifies the percentages and rates under which year-to-year wages are increased, which is the rate of wage increase agreed between the Government and Trade Unions and Federations, and the Consumer Price Index (IPC). Decree 1012 of 2019 [2] sets the pay and basic allocation scales for public jobs of non-uniformed civilian employees of the Ministry of Defence, its decentralised, affiliated, and linked entities, the Military Forces, and the National Police. Each year similar decrees are issued setting out the annual adjustment to basic salaries and pay scales. The Military and Police and civial personnel receive a monthly certification of the salary they received. [3] With regard to the transparency of the process, there is evidence of shortcomings due to a lack of clarity regarding all salary allocations and discounts, and a lack of clarity of the total number of military members who are experiencing wage deductions related to funeral policies or legal insurance by private companies. [4] Santiago Angel of the newspaper El Tiempo, reports that several soldiers have had wage deductions between $20,000 pesos and $100,000 pesos for funeral policies or legal insurance that they never authorized and for which they never signed a contract. [5] There is also no information on the Ministry’s website or on the pages of the Military Forces and Police regarding the deductions made by the Payroll Office with regard to rank.

There is evidence of late payment of salaries, as well as the claims by civil service trade unions of 249.6 billion FCFA in outstanding wage arrears (arriérés de salaires). The trade unions negotiated a pact with the government in August 2017 and most arrears appear to have been paid by January-February 2018, which is more than the 3 months. However, the civil service payment system is otherwise functional and well-established. As of August 20, 2018, the APA reported that 89,770 civil servants (including the MoD) had received over CFA 28.5 billion in wage arrears that the government had agreed to on August 17, 2017. The amount had been negotiated with an umbrella group of trade unions (Plateforme Nationale des Syndicats de l’Administration Publique). The wage arrears included special allowances such as death benefits, survivors’ pensions and allowances for large families (1).

Meanwhile, the government website (gouv.ci) reported in March 2018 that all wage arrears had been paid by January-February 2018 in exchange for social peace. But it appears that not all public sector wage arrears have been paid because the figures published are inconsistent:

“On August 17, 2017 the government and the main trade unions of civil servants signed, in the presence of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, two memoranda of understanding which provide for a five-year social truce in exchange for the satisfaction of their demands. the main one is the payment of the stock of wage arrears estimated at 249.6 billion FCFA” (2).

Another reference to wage arrears in government personnel was reported by Ivoire Business in September 2017. This source revealed that 92 town halls in regions of the centre, north and western Côte d’Ivoire (Centre, Nord et Ouest, CNO) were staging a strike due to arrears going back 83 months. The outstanding arrears amounted to CFA 18 billion and the arrears dated to the period of civil unrest from 2002 to 2011. Then Minister of the Interior Hamed Bakayoko had promised to pay the outstanding sum on March 9, 2017, but failed to keep his promise (3). “The personnel employed by local authorities is usually paid via taxes collected in the respective cities. Since 2012, the personnel have been paid their regular salary. The wage arrears in question concern the crisis period in Côte d’Ivoire, from 2002 to 2011. About 3042 agents are affected” (3).

Aside from the claims for unpaid special allowances (death benefits, survivors’ pensions, large families), the accuracy of public sector wages does not appear to be a major issue. For example, during the soldier uprisings in Bouaké and other towns in January 2017, Le Monde referred to the MoD wage arrears as one of the soldiers’ main grievances, aside from salary increases and their poor living conditions. The former combatants of the pro-Ouattara Forces Nouvelles (FN) did not claim inaccuracies in the payment of their wages. Instead, they complained about the lack of timeliness and their barracks conditions (1). The RTBF source from January 7, 2017, listed the soldiers’ grievances as including not only the wage arrears and bonuses (primes) but also wage increases. The mutineers demanded the payment of bonuses, salary increases and faster promotion between ranks and improved housing conditions. But the list of grievances did not include a lack of accuracy in the payment of wages (2). Jeune Afrique, in June 2017, described the former combatants’ grievances as stemming from years of the “deconstruction” of the armed forces since the end of the post-election crisis of 2010-2011. The government’s response has been to implement the 2016-2020 Military Planning Act (Loi de Programmation Militaire, LPM) to convince military officers above the age of 55 to apply for early retirement and thus deactivate the threat of future soldier uprisings (3). No evidence was found that accuracy in the payment of the MoD wages is an issue.

There is no transparency in terms of the pay brackets by rank, no details on how individual pay is calculated and no lists are provided of the MoD staff entitlements (benefits) and special allowances. Although neither the government nor the MoD has published information on payment of salaries on their websites, the pay rates appear to have been leaked by opposition media (the daily “Aujourd’hui) on January 9, 2018. No information on salary levels (grilles salariales) is available on the MoD website. However, the MoD website does contain a dedicated page showing a breakdown of the existing military ranks (1). In January 2018, the website of Diaspora Côte d’Ivoire, citing the opposition daily “Aujourd’hui”, published the 2018 salaries for members of the Armed Forces according to rank. The Ivorian media pointed to the daily “Aujourd’hui” as the source of the leaked information (2).

Research only found one instance of issues specifically related to timeliness. As the Danish Defence transitioned to a new IT system for time management during the fall and winter of 2019/2020, some employees experienced late payment of overtime [1]. This was critised by the soldiers’ and officers’ labour unions [2]. However, in the 2018 annual revision of the state budget, the Danish National Audit Office concluded that the number of instances where the management of salary had been faulty, wrong or in breach of rules were found to be high within the Ministry of Defence [3]. The issues were not specified further in the public report and the MoD promised to correct this [4].

Research only found one instance specifically related to accuracy, but the Danish National Audit Office issued general critique of the Defence salary management in 2018. As the Danish Defence transitioned to a new IT system for time management during the fall and winter of 2019/2020, some employees experienced payment of incorrect salary [1]. This was criticised by the soldiers’ and officers’ labour unions (2). In the 2018 annual revision of the state budget, the Danish National Audit Office concluded that the number of instances where the management of salary had been faulty, wrong or in breach of rules were found to be high within the Ministry of Defence [3]. The issues were not specified further in the public report and the MoD promised to correct this [4].

As reported in Q39, there are considerable shortcomings in the transparency of the payment system. This is simply due to poor accessibility and exposition by the MoD and does not reflect a lack of governing principles or transparency herein. Overall, the personnel are employed according to the stipulations in collective agreements, why pay rates are both differentiated and available to the general public. Pay rates for military and civilian personnel are dependent on a number of factors including position, qualifications and special functions [1]. The ministry has published an example of pay rates for land based personnel [2]. But research found no direct weblinks to the relevant collective agreements on the ministry website, nor on the ministry employee information page on collective agreements [3]. Some information on allowances could be found on the (publicly accessible) Defence website for employee information [4]. However, the information appears to be very incomplete [5]. In several instances the website points to the classified intranet of the Defence (FIIN) for more information, but this intranet is obviously not open to the public [6]. In the example of pay rates published by the MoD as mentioned in Q39A, examples of allowances in connection to deployment is included [7]. Daily allowances and reimbursements in relation to official journeys (not deployments) follow the state regulations which are publicly available [8]. An official provision (“bestemmelse”) for allowances in relation to deployment in international operations was found on the website of a labour union [9]. The Defence employee information page on international deployment also contained some information on relevant allowances [10]. This illustrates that information on some allowances, pay rates and pay brackets are publicly available, but it is not complete and not pooled within/on a single Defence website/source. In sum, research did not identify comprehensive publicly available information on pay brackets for ranks, calculations of individual pay, allowances and expenses, or on the differentiation between staff groups. It should be stressed again that detailed provisions for all this does exist and is determined according to the specific collective agreement for the staff group, but the transparency is low simply due to poor accessibility and exposition by the MoD.

There is no information or evidence in the public domain of delays in payment. However, this might be coloured by the lack of information that characterizes payments of defence personnel. Also, the vast majority of conscripts suffer from extremely low salaries of about $35 a month (1), (2). However, according to other interviews, the payment of salaries is systematic, and there are rare instances of late payments that exceed a few days (3), (4).

No information or evidence regarding the accuracy of payments (or lack thereof) has ever been published. However, anecdotal evidence (1), (2), (3) suggests that payments were quite accurate. It is worth noting though that salaries for conscripts, which constitute the vast majority of armed forces personnel, could be as low as $35 a month (4).

The payment system is not published, but rates of salary increases are usually issued by law or presidential decree and therefore made public (1).

In accordance with the Military Service Act, the salary scale of active servicemen is established by regulation of the Defence Minister. [1] With regard to the salary, salary components, basis for reduction of salary, time and manner of payment of the salary, payment of the salary upon impediment to perform duties of an active serviceman and the disclosure of the salary, the Public Service Act is applied. [2] Even if there were some problematic incidents concerning remuneration of servicemen in the 1990s, the personnel now receive correct pay on time and the system is well-established. [3]

All military and civilian defence personnel are public servants and therefore are employed by the government according to the Civil Service Act, which provides for correct, non-discriminatory pay. [1] The remuneration of active servicemen is established by the Government, based on the Development Plan of the Area of Defence Ministry. [2] There have not been any problems with not receiving promised payments in recent years. [3]

The pay brackets are public and approved by the Minister of Defence. According to the Military Service Act, the Commander of the Defence Forces establishes the salary guide, which provides indications regarding how the pay is calculated. Individual pay is calculated based on the years of education and the experience of the serviceman. The salary scale is established by the Minister of Defence. The Military Service Act offers a list of allowances to which personnel and their family are entitled in different situations, posts and duties. The Military Service Act does not clearly separate the administrative, unit and audit responsibilities when it comes to pay. The administrative and audit responsibilities are also covered by the Civil Service Act.

There are no news stories about the Defence Forces not paying salaries on time. The last time such stories existed was in 2011 and onwards for a year or two, when the change to SAP financial management software interrupted the payment system for a month [1,2]. Given that this was such a significant issue and had widespread media coverage, it would seem likely that any delay in payment would result in similar coverage.

There are no news stories about the Defence Forces not paying correct salaries. Occasionally this happens when, for example, a person’s tasks or job description changes. However, the last time major news stories existed was in 2011 and onwards for a year or two, when the change to SAP financial management software messed up the payment system for a month [1,2].

Pay tables and collective labour agreements in force in the Defence Forces are available on the website of the Ministry of Defence. These include the pay tables and collective labour agreements for (1) lower ranking officers, (2) special officers and civilian expert positions and civilian management positions, (3) officers and temporary officer’s positions in reserve (separately for military priest and conductors), (4) warrant officers, and (5) civilian personnel. However, those do not specify the pay rates in different ranks or positions (which also differ on the basis of one’s performance and experience as well as the detailed job description). [1]

The deficient “Louvois” payment system is still partially used and causes errors in payments in 9% of cases, which represents more than 17,000 soldiers who are not necessarily paid in due time. [1] The delay varies for each case, but at the peak of “Louvois” payment system deficiency, the average payment delay was 42 days. [2] These errors are now monitored and corrected “a posteriori”, but still represent a discomfort for the staff having to wait for the correction to be effective, and a cost for the Ministry in terms of the human resources involved in the monitoring and correcting tasks. [3]
The “Louvois” payment system was supposed to be dropped in 2015, but the new system, “Source solde”, is taking much longer than expected to take over. It was supposed to be implemented partially in 2017, then 2018, and still isn’t in place at the time of writing. Experts assume it won’t be effective before 2021. [3] It should also be noted that the “Louvois” system was not used to pay all salaries, for example those in the Air Force, however further information on this could not be found in the public domain.

The deficient “Louvois” payment system is still partially used and causes errors in payments in 9% of cases, which represents more than 17,000 soldiers who receive more or less than expected. [1] These errors are now monitored and corrected, but still represent a discomfort for the staff and a cost for the ministry in terms of the human resources involved in the monitoring and correcting tasks. The ministry has lost 95 million Euros in overpayment. [2]
The “Louvois” payment system was dropped in 2015, but the new system, “Source solde”, is taking much longer than expected to take over. It was supposed to be implemented partially in 2017, then 2018, and still isn’t in place at the time of writing. Experts assume it won’t be effective before 2021. [2]

The payment and allowances system is openly published once a year in the Social Report. [1] It includes :
– Pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority : pages 153 to 160
– Details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from post : pages 153 to 160
– A list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement : pages 172 to 179
– Separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities : Superior Council of Military Function (Conseil Supérieur de la Fonction Militaire, CSFM) page 265

The Armed Forces Ombudsman (the ‘Parliamentary Commissioner for the German Armed Forces’) serves as a contact point for any job-related grievances of soldiers. The Commissioner’s annual report reflects the situation of the Armed Forces personnel. The latest report [1] does not indicate any grievances with regard to payment, so it can be assumed that there is no problem with regard to timeliness of payments.

However, in 2017, the Bundeswehrverband (the ‘German Armed Forces Association’, which represents the interests of soldiers) criticised the complexity and inadequacy of the allowance system [2].

The Armed Forces Ombudsman (the ‘Parliamentary Commissioner for the German Armed Forces’) serves as a contact point for any job-related grievances of soldiers. The Commissioner’s annual report reflects the situation of the Armed Forces personnel. The 2019 report does not indicate any grievances relating to payment, so there does not seem to be any large-scale/structural concerns regarding payments [1].

However, in 2013, the Federal Audit Office detected that the payments for newly recruited soldiers had been calculated wrongly in about 2,000 cases and, in most of these, the pay rates had been too low. The Ministry made multiple efforts to improve the processes that led to these mistakes, however, as of 2019, some payments were still calculated wrongly [2].

Payments and allowances are specified in a dedicated law on civil service payments (‘Bundesbesoldungsordnung’) [1]. The law also stipulates specific allowances, e.g. for deployment abroad (Auslandsverwendungszuschlag) or family members. Information on specific pay-brackets for all ranks is provided on the Armed Forces website [2]. This website provides further information on time spent away from one’s post and on some allowances. Detailed information, however, can be accessed through the formal provisions, e.g. on the regulation of foreign deployment allowances (Auslandsverwendungszuschlag) [2]. This information is also accessible to the public.

A salary calculator is available online, which also specifies the calculation methods and the legal basis of payments [3]. However, there is no evidence of separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities published anywhere.

Personnel receive their pay on time, however military personnel involved in peacekeeping missions have complained about delays in the past five years (1). The issue of late payments for peacekeeping troops was addressed by the current government in February 2017 with the release of USD 13 million to clear all the outstanding arrears (2). On the same day, the government also announced that soldiers involved in peacekeeping operations will now receive their pay while on duty rather than when they return home.

Due to technical problems in July 2017, civilians employed by the MOD also denounced late payments. However, the arrears were eventually cleared by the Ministry of Finance shortly thereafter (3).

In other MDAs, reports of delays in the payment of salaries for public sectors workers have been found due to lack of funds and an ineffective bureaucracy (4). The University of Ghana was unable to pay its workers on time in March 2018 (5), MPs complained about delays (6), and pensions were not paid on time in April 2018 (7).

Personnel receive their pay on time through the Accountant Generals Department (1), (2), (3).

Information about the salaries of military personnel is not made publicly available by the government, the MOD, or the Ministry of Finance websites. Nor is it available from Ghana’s news media. According to media reports, the salary for military personnel is subject to discretionary adjustments. For instance, last year the soldiers’ monthly salary was increased (4).

Payments were switched to the Single Spine Salary Structure in 2010, which improved transparency and the accuracy of payments somewhat (1). The payment system for military personnel corresponds to those laid out in the salary structure of all MDS but is not made publicly available by the MOD or by its responsible office the Forces Pay Regiment (2), (3)

Personnel are paid on time, despite the financial crisis [1, 2]. There have been no delays.

Personnel receive the correct pay through an automated payment system [1] [2].

Military personnel pay rates disaggregated by ranks and allowances have been openly published in part F of Law 4472/2017. The act contains also general rules on eligibility and calculation methods. Different types of staff have not been differentiated [1].

No press reports on any delay. All sources confirmed payments are never delayed [1, 2].

All sources confirmed payments are correct. There were some occasional delay in paying allowance (not monthly payments). Delay was due to technical reason and no longer then few days [1, 2].

A payment system is published in the decree [1]; It includes all of the following:

– Pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority.
– Details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from post.
– A list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement.
– Separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities.

Personnel receive the correct pay on time [1]. Pay and allowances of Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) of the Indian Army including JCOs holding Honorary Commissioned Ranks are maintained Corps/Regiment-wise on the Individual Running Ledger Account (IRLA) System in 44 Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) spread across the country. This system began in 1946.

In August 2009, a Monthly Payment System was launched under ‘Project Samarth’ in an effort to re-engineer the system to ensure that Army personnel pay accounts are closed every month and their net monthly entitlements are remitted into their bank accounts [2].

Personnel generally receive the accurate pay on time. After analysing records, there seems to be no grievances surrounding accuracy of monthly pay [1].

Grievances pertain to the longstanding issue of military personnel earning less than civilian personnel. The Seventh Central Pay Commission had fixed Rs 5,200 as MSP per month for JCOs and jawans while putting it at Rs 15,500 for officers between Lieutenant-rank and Brigadier-rank [2]. The proposal for higher MSP for JCOs and equivalent rank of the Navy and the IAF was rejected by the Finance Ministry in December 2018. The three services, particularly the Army, was pressing for increasing the monthly MSP of JCOs from Rs 5,500 to Rs 10,000 [3].

Information on personnel pay, allowances and systems are publicly available and comprehensive; including pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority, calculation methods, permitted allowances and expenses, entitlement criteria and caps on entitlement [1][2][3][4][5]. In August 2010, under ‘Project Dolphin’ the existing Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) based system was shifted to a Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS) based online system. The project facilitates to provide monthly entitlement information to personnel. This helps them to lodge complaints and grievances speedily unlike the earlier system where personnel received a statement of accounts only after the quarterly closing. The system establishes authority and accountability [6].

Salary payment procedures in the Ministry of Defence and the TNI are stipulated in Minister of Defence Regulation No. 32/2017 concerning Income of Prospective Civil Servants and Civil Servants Within Ministry of Defence and Indonesian National Defence Forces [1], which states that the main salary of Ministry of Defence employees is paid every month and stated in a list of payments of Master Salaries. Our interviewee claimed that salaries were paid at the beginning of the month through via bank transfer [2], a claim that is supported by at least two others. Detailed salary components can be provided by the accountant at each office. Each employee can even see salaries of other personnel with different positions and ranks.

Personnel receive a salary in accordance with the provisions of the Main Salary of the Ministry of Defence and the TNI, including basic salary and allowance (tunjangan). Since 2015, performance allowances have been added in accordance with the Bureaucratic Reform agenda [1]. According to Minister of Defence Regulation No. 32/2017, if an inaccurate salary is received by personnel, the difference is paid as a salary refund [2]. If there is an overpayment, then the difference is given to the state treasury or considered/deducted from the salary of the following month. In terms of implementation, the salary received may vary due to deductions, but the number is accurate [3]. These deductions vary in each military branch, for example, in the navy there is a mandatory savings discount, while in the army, there are deductions due to cooperative (koperasi) membership, among others [4]. These deductions are considered a form of saving that will eventually be returned to the personnel as they rotate to another unit. Two interviewees confirmed that they have received accurate payment in the past four years.

The payment and allowances system is openly published in various regulations. It includes all of the following, at a minimum:
• Pay brackets for all ranks, arranged by seniority.
• Details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting at a post/time away from a post
• A list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the criteria for entitlement and caps on entitlement
• Separate administrative, unit and audit responsibilities.

Provisions on the amounts for basic salary and allowances for Ministry of Defence and TNI employees are determined based on class/rank and period of employment (MKG) [1,2]. Details of basic salary amounts are published for internal organisation only, along with the accompanying regulations. Meanwhile, the amounts for allowances and the relevant calculations are regulated at the Ministry of Defence level [3]. This includes other types of employee expenditure, such as overtime pay, meal allowances and honorariums, as well as the compilation of other Salary Employee Expenditure (Belanja Pegawai Gaji) request lists. Salaries, allowances and other personnel expenditure is managed by the Salary Employee Expenditure Administration Officer (Petugas Pengelola Administrasi Belanja Pegawai Gaji/PPABP) as Power Budget User (KPA) assistant. Internal deductions are agreed upon with each military branch. The payroll system is quite transparent for members. The detailed calculation of the total salary is summarised by the accountant in each unit, for filing and bank transfers. Each employee can request the details of the received salary from the accountant [4].

There is the occasional instance of late payment. Only one report on late payment was found. The defence minister faced questioning in the Parliament about the issue [1, 2].

For the above mentioned instance in 2017, army personnel were only receiving a salary for 23 days of work instead of for a full month [1, 2].

The payment and allowances system is published in the Revolutionary Guards Employment Law, and the “National Employment Law and the Law of Equal Payments of the Government Employees”. The Revolutionary Guard’s Employment Law changes in accordance with changes in the national employment law [1].

Iraq’s stagnant economy has impacted Iraq’s salary payment system adversely, with local news outlets reporting regular delays and salary disputes, across various sectors; education (1), (2) defence (3) among others. Back in 2016, former finance minister Hoshyar Zebari warned of the government’s restricted capabilities in distributing monthly salaries, owing to the oil slump at the time. In further confirmation of the government’s inability to secure the salaries of public sector workers, recurrent protests and periodic worker strikes (4) that have denounced both the federal government and KRI authorities for failing the country’s 3.5 mn state employees” (5). Since the 2014 budget cut over which new political ruptures emerged, the KRG has struggled to pay its security forces regularly (6) [298: 22]. A similar dilemma, Zebari previously revealed (5) forced the GOI to withhold “salaries of senior government officials in an effort to free cash” (5). Volunteers in the PMF were not paid, Zebari conceded, in spite of its efforts to free cash (5). A further 3.8 per cent salary cut was proposed this year, the same number of which was touted in 2016 (1). The government’s ability to pay salaries remains crippled in a consumerist society dependent on monthly salary payments, forcing some groups to rely on independent salaries (7). Reasons behind salary delays are manifold but gleaning through news coverage, it appears that delays affect retired personnel more than those in service. An Iraqi expert on military affairs added in an interview with TI (8) that “the state cannot afford to delay salary payments to army members. However, as the payments of retired soldiers are concerned, delays are commonplace. What was unrecoverable was sound evidence of payment delays to different strands of PMF forces, namely ‘The Tribal Crowd’. In late 2016, the then-parliamentary security and defence committee ordered an investigation into delayed salary payments to members of this unit, who had missed on 3 months of wages. In 2017, some members of the parliamentary security committee held National Security Adviser Faleh al Fayyad responsibility for consequent payments delays.

The PMF adhere to its own payment structure, paying wages to its fighters only, and as various sources have stated, this could be subject to change, if the figure of fighters changes (1), (2), (3). Salaries are paid using state funds allocated to the PMF Commission headed by Faleh al Fayyadh under the yearly federal budget (4). It is not entirely clear under which criteria the payment distribution system for PMF fighters operate. Allocations and the sums of payments are determined by the financial department, but various irregularities have been reported over the years (5), (6) but according to some reports, these irregularities have led to promises of the establishment of a digitised payment system (6), which is yet to be implemented or formalised or fully introduced.

The system of payment concerning defence personnel is not publicly available. However, funds that enable defence activities are allocated in the Federal Budget, annually (1). The budgetary allocation procedure is transparent but financial risks, in the form of misspending and ghost soldiers, remains poorly addressed/administered. More recently, various articles and analysts have advised the government to establish a uniform payment system to unify different chains of command and “establish a uniform promotion criteria” to overcome payment discrepancies (2).

Some interviewed former soldiers (for example, from October 2018) said that their salaries were always paid on time (1) (2). This website is the official page of Mofet, the body in charge of finances for obligatory, reserve and officers’ salaries and monetary benefits which provides some official information (3). No further information could be found on this issue, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the office of the State Comptroller were contacted, however, no response was provided.

Some interviewed former soldiers (for example, from October 2018) said that their salaries were always paid on time (1). This website is the official page of Mofet, the body in charge of finances for obligatory, reserve and officers’ salaries and monetary benefits which provides some official information (2). No further information could be found on this issue, the IDF and the office of the State Comptroller were contacted, however, no response was provided.

The payment and allowances system is openly published, on the website (1) (2) (3). Pay brackets disaggregated by seniority are specificed in a yearly report from the Ministryof Finance. The rules of calculating individual pay are accessible to everyone, as wages in the IDF are based on the salary components in the public sectors (influenced by rank, seniority, education and level of training).
All relevant information that makes up the list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement, are reported in full transparency to the Ministry of Finance according to known regulation and rules (4).

In general terms personnel of the Ministry of Defence receive their pay on time, via the centralised online platform NoiPA [1]. On the website of labour unions of the personnel employed in the ministry and on public media, there are no claims of chronic delay or error in the attribution of monthly payments [2].

Payments are normally correct. Nonetheless, at the beginning of February 2020, there were some instances of missed payment of missions allowances due to foreclosures of bank accounts of the Ministry [1] [2]. The foreclosure of bank accounts has been necessary due to significant delays in the Ministry’s payment of bills.

As indicated in Q39, pay brackets for all ranks disaggregated by seniority and the allowances systems are available on the website of the Ministry of Defence. On the website of the Ministry it is possible to access reports on the concession of allowances divided per civilian and military personnel. For the former, data is published bimonthly [1], for the latter annually [2]. Criteria for the concession of allowances are publicly accessible. Due to privacy reasons and as regulated by legislative decree n. 33 of 14 March 2013 [3], data related to the identity of the personnel is not published. The administrative units [4] are separated from the audit ones. Control is performed by the Central Budget Office [5] of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from post is not available.

According to Article 3 of the Law regarding the Salary of Personnel of the MOD, regularly employed employees of the ministry are to receive pay in money on a set day every month. [1] A search of the two mainstream newspapers Asahi Shimbun [2] and Yomiuri Shimbun [3] for the period January 1, 2016 – September 20, 2019 did not uncover any reports of delayed payment for personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence. An open search on the Internet did not uncover any such reports either. This is evidence that the personnel do receive pay on time.

A search of the two mainstream newspapers Asahi Shimbun [1] and Yomiuri Shimbun [2] for the period January 1, 2016 – September 20, 2019 did not uncover any reports of employees of the Ministry of Defence not receiving accurate pay. The Self Defence Forces recruitment homepage has a short presentation of the head of an accounting troop, who writes, “in order to correctly pay the salaries of over 1,000 personnel, we conduct precise salary calculation.” [3] These findings are all evidence that pay is accurate.

The information on how to calculate pay and allowances is given in the main, relevant, laws for the MOD, the Law regarding the Salary of the Personnel of the MOD [1] and the Law on Remuneration of Officials in the Regular Service. [2] Pay brackets for all ranks are given in the appended tables to the laws, the most recent of which are at the bottom of the text. Pay for civil servant positions in the MOD is also given, but in many cases by referring to other documents. Pay rises are not determined by seniority as such, as soldiers must pass examinations to be promoted to ranks above private. Pay steps within a rank are determined by assessment of the employee’s quality of service as well as by seniority. [3] Allowances are also listed in the laws, with more detailed information in ordinances and other documents (see Q39B). Determining an employee’s pay and allowances does, however, require specialist knowledge. The Ministry of Defence has separate administrative, operational (unit) and (internal) audit functions, as the organisational chart of the ministry displays. [4] Audit duty is assigned to specific officers. [5] However, chains of command are not separate from chains of payment. [6]

There is no evidence to suggest that there are regular delays in personnel payments within the defence sector in Jordan. There are examples in the media of delayed payments within the private sector in general, and specifically in relation to a company previously owned by the armed forces [1]. This incident, and the reporting around it, suggests that when the company was owned by the armed forces there were no delays in payments. In addition to that, there is no evidence to suggest delays in payments for defence personnel, despite evidence suggesting that public sector personnel occasionally have their payments delayed but are often corrected within days. For instance, in June 2018, salary payments to public sector employees were delayed [2]. These delays, however, were not reported by the media as regular occurrences, but rather prompted an explanation from the Minister of Finance.

There is no evidence to suggest that defence personnel receive incorrect payments. In fact, there is not a single media report that highlights incorrect payments within the public. Some local media outlets have highlighted the inequality in the distribution of average payments between different governmental departments [1]. Others highlighted payment problems including delays and incorrect payments in the private sector [2]. In other news, public sector payment delays were questioned in Parliament [3]. However, none of these reported anything in relation to incorrect payments for defence personnel.

There is no transparency at all in relation to making the payment system available to the public. The only information available about payment systems concerning defence is around the calculations of pensions for retired military and civilian personnel [1, 2]. Some information might be found sporadically about payment systems for the public sector in Jordan. In January 2017, the Minister of Finance explained that salary payments will be made between the 25th and the 28th of each month [3]. He added that payments will be made electronically, and no more cash payments will be allowed. Beyond this information, the payment system is not published in Jordan.

There is no evidence available to indicate that there are salary delays for civilian and miltary personnel. The Government developed the Government Human Resource Information System (GHRIS) portal whose aim is to address all its Human Resource (HR) needs. GHRIS is a centralised system that is expected to interface with other existing and future systems like Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS), Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD), among others. [1]

The system is meant to enhance easy and accessible to employees, efficient and transparent system. However information released in the press indicates that the system needed an upgrade in order to enable it harmonise payrolls and get rid of ghost workers in the public service. [2]

There has been at least one instance in the past where the salaries of military personnel were adjusted “quietly”, as reported in local media. [1] The salaries of KDF officers were revised upwards at the time, in what the Department of Defence termed as “harmonisation”. The Department of Defence was, however, highly guarded on revealing details of the harmonisation. It was also reported that military officers had not received payslips for two months following the adjustment of salaries for the armed forces.

Apart from top-level state officers and other senior military and civilian officers, there was no evidence found on the existing pay structure used by the Kenya Defence Forces. The KDF Act only states that the Defence Council, guided by the advice of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) shall determine the salaries of members of the Defence Forces. [1]

According to the Regulation No. 02/2018 on Salaries in the Kosovo Security Forces of the Ministry of Defence, the civilian and military personnel of the Ministry and the Forces are paid monthly into individual bank accounts [1]. The personnel salaries are paid through a system managed by the Kosovo Government using the Ministry of Defence’s budget [1]. Each employee is required to sign the salary lists to ensure transparency of data and to make sure that salary is aligned with each rank [1]. Each salary rank is associated with a code allocated to each job title for all of the Kosovo Security Forces members, whether they are active, reserve, recruited or cadet [1]; and the same applies to civilian personnel [1].
Based on the responses provided by the Ministry of Defence, civilian and military personnel receive their wages or salaries in due time [1; 2]. This is confirmed by the senior officials of the Ministry of Defence [2].

Personnel of the Ministry of Defence and the Kosovo Security Forces receive their correct wages or salaries on a regular basis and in due time [1]. This is confirmed by the senior officials of the Ministry of Defence [2].

Regulation No. 02/2018 on Salaries in the Kosovo Security Forces states that the salaries for civilian and military personnel are transparent and provide the basis for planning the annual expenditures and of the Medium Term Expenditures Framework based on the Salaries Budget [1]. However, the Medium Term Expenditures Framework for 2019-2021 [2] and 2020-2022 [3] contain only superficial data on wages and salaries of personnel within public institutions, including those of the Ministry of Defence and the Kosovo Security Forces [2, 3]. This document provides an analysis of Kosovo’s macroeconomic environment and sets a baseline for budget planning for the coming years in line with the Government’s priorities [3]. The Medium Term Expenditures Framework for 2019-2021 and for 2020-2022 only have summary data for total budget expenditure on on wages and salaries for personnel in the Ministry of Defence and the Security Forces [2, 3]. Additionally, it is not clear the exact amount spent only on salaries given that wages and salaries are presented together in one figure [2, 3]. The financial reports for the budget expenditures published by the Kosovo Treasury only show the total budget expenditures on salaries on annual basis [5], and none of the following detail is indicated: pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post/away from post; a list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement; separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities, etc. Complete detail on the payment and allowances systems is therefore not openly published for the time being.

Personnel get paid on time, state auditors said (1, 2 and 3). No credible media reports suggest otherwise. This is unsurpising since Kuwait is a wealthy nation.(4)

Personnel receive the correct pay and get paid on time, state auditors said (1, 2 and 3). No credible media reports suggest otherwise. This is unsurpising since Kuwait is a wealthy nation.

The payment system is not published.

There have been no public disclosures indicating that the personnel does not receive pay on time. The State Audit Office has not identified inconsistencies. [1]

There have been no public disclosures indicating that the personnel does not receive pay on time. The State Audit Office has not identified inconsistencies. [1]

While the policy on renumeration, including allowances, is openly published and clear [1] and the database refferred to in the previous sub-indicator contains information on the allowances of civilian employees, [2] the allowances of soldiers along with their salaries are not published.

From research, only on one occasion, in 2015, was there a 45-day delay in payment for personnel (1). The government then resolved the issue. There is no evidence of any similar incidents concerning delayed payments. A source has confirmed this information (2).

No information was found on inaccurate pay for military personnel (1). A source dismissed that these incidents have happened (2).

A payment and allowances system is published online including, pay brackets for all ranks (1). The NDL outlines the calculations for military personnel’s pay (2). Remunerations, allowances, and post-retirement benefits are also indicated in the NDL and in a decree related to military compensation (3). However, audit reports are not publically available (4).

There is no information suggesting delays of salary for personnel in the defence sector [1, 2].

Based on desk research and media coverage, there is no information suggesting incorrect, or inaccurate payments. During the last few years there has been information focused on the growing pay rates in the defence sector. For example, the salaries for troops should have increase by 30 percent between 2017-2020 [1]. Throughout 2017, the salaries for military personnel increased by 5 percent [2].

The Ministry of Defence and Lithuanian armed forces publish online the average civilian personnel pay rates, divided by position [1,2]. Article 60 of the Law on the Organisation of the National Defence and on Military Service provides information on military personnel salaries, benefits and allowances; and the Law on Civil Services identifies categories of civil servants, including their salary coefficient based on the above categories [3, 4]. Military pay brackets for all ranks, divided by seniority, are also publicly available [5]. The Ministry of Defence website also publishes online relevant information or links to more information about allowances and benefits for military personnel, based on the duration of the years served, on their grade and other classifications [6]. No details on how individual pay is calculated, including start time in post or leave, is publicly available. Information does not include separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities.

Like other government employees, salary payments are made by the end of the month. According to Brigadier General Mohd Azmi bin Mohd Yusoff, no incidents of late salary payment have occurred for military servicemen. This was also confirmed by Colonel Nazeri Ismail. [1] [2] Furthermore, disbursement of monthly salary payments must follow the dates specifed in the circular issued by the Federal Accountant Office. [3]

Personnel at the three services receive the correct pay. [1] [2] Further investigation on their websites found no media reports of delayed salary payments for the last five years in the Malaysian military institutions.

Salary structures and allowances are not diretcly open for public consumption; however, when recruitment exercises are lauched, the respective services would provide indicative salary and allowance. [1] [3] The details of salary payments are visible on salary slips for personnel. [1] [2] Salary payments are managed by Urusan Gaji Angkatan Tentera (UGAT) or Salary Management Unit of the Armed Forces, an independent corps within the armed forces. Based on recruitment advertisement by the Navy homepage, the basic salary (excluding allowances) of navy cadre and officers is as follow: Cadre, RM1104-1974; Leutenant, RM3554-9924; Captain, RM5967-11624; Rear Admiral, RM6701-12304; and Admiral, RM8586-17573. [3]

There are occasionally short delays in the payment of salaries, bonuses and allowances to members of the armed forces, police and other civil servants. In 2016, soldiers in the southern region of Sikasso had to wait several days longer than usual to receive their monthly salaries.¹ Similarly, in January 2018, workers across the public sector, including doctors and police officers, failed to receive their salaries on time.²
A defence attaché working at a foreign embassy in Bamako told the assessor that the soldiers he knows in Bamako are regularly paid on time.⁵ But the attaché noted that he’s met several FAMa members in Gao who say they have occasionally had problems with delayed payments.⁵ He commented that there is an established payments schedule and a centrally controlled system. “It can go for months without any problems, but the suddenly it blocks and there are delays. Sometimes it blocks just because of one person”.⁵
In 2014, community teachers went on strike after several instances of their salaries being paid on 7th or 8th of the following month, instead of the 25th like other public servants.³ A Transparency International report looking at the collapse of the Malian state in 2012 identified that the payment of salaries to security officials was “frequently” delayed.⁴ However, there is no post-crisis reported example of defence officials having to wait more than a month to obtain their salary.

The weak oversight system and heterogeneity of management methods can lead to serious irregularities in the payment of salaries and bonuses. In March 2016, the 600 members of the GTIA 8 battalion walked out of their training class after it was revealed that their officers had deprived them of their risk bonus.¹ The scandal came amid several media reports of risk bonuses and food allowances not being paid to soldiers and being used to other unknown ends.¹ The fact that it is officers who determine whether certain battalions are eligible for such bonuses and that the funds allocated for these purposes can disappear demonstrates the systemic weaknesses in the payment process. This point was confirmed by a defence attaché based in Bamako.⁶
In addition, RAND’s study found some soldiers in the north commenting that there were irregularities in receiving food stipends for northern deployment, but commanders noted that the soldiers had a cafeteria on base to eat in and were receiving their pay correctly.²
A senior security governance official told the assessor that there is a systemic problem in the payments system, which the official describes as ‘dysfunctional’. Despite what is officially published, the source said that pay is not always determined by rank: who you are and where you work are often more important determinants.³ “A soldier working within the presidency can earn more than his or her counterpart stationed in Ségou or Sikasso”.³ Both the World Bank and the IMF conclude that there are systematic problems with the payments system, leading to inaccuracies.
The World Bank’s study identifies that the main risks affecting the payment of wages in the military are at the local level and “involve potential unjustified, and in fact completely irregular, siphoning off in units by supervisors”.⁴ Meanwhile, the IMF says that even though “the payrolls are subject to multiple controls during the administrative and accounting phases (…) these controls are both redundant and insufficient to eliminate irregular payments”.⁵ It records that the Central Payroll Office does conduct some cross-checking of the pay slips manually and seeks to verify atypical amounts. “However, these controls on a large volume of data are most often conducted ex post because there is no mechanism for systematic detection of potential anomalies embedded in the information system”.⁵
The defence attaché added that with salary payments, “at every stage someone takes a little bit for themselves”.⁶ Both the defence attaché and the senior security governance professional commented that the current Chief of the Defence Staff, General Keita, is keen to implement an electronic payment system for salaries.³ ⁶ This would dramatically reduce opportunities for commanders and other officials to skim money off salaries. Thus, the security governance official said that the current system is “a golden egg for some commanders” and so there’s a lot of resistance to the idea of an electronic system from Keita’s subordinates.³ The defence attaché seconded this analysis of the internal resistance, saying that an electronic system would help reveal how many soldiers each commander has under their authority.⁶

Certain details regarding the payment system are available, but the degree of transparency is low. As part of the current government’s military reforms, the Ministry of Defence has increased soldiers’ and police officers’ salaries by about 15%. Each soldier now earns between 75,000 and 100,000 CFA per month, in addition to a risk bonus/allowance of 1,200 CFA for every day spent as part of an active military operation.¹ Members of the armed forces also now receive subsidised accommodation and social security cover, something they did not previously get.¹
However, the assessor was unable to find a clear and current breakdown of salaries for more senior military figures. A source from 2007 reveals that at the time an army general earned 236,840 CFA per month, not including bonuses and allowances.² The article provides the index number for a seemingly comprehensive series of ranks and titles within the security forces, but it does not offer corresponding salaries.² Given the dated nature of this information, the subsequent change of government, the dramatic events that have since ensued and the current government’s reforms of the armed forces, this data is deemed to be inaccurate for 2018.
Moreover, military accountants, unlike other public-sector accountants, are not appointed by or with the agreement of the Minister of Economy and Finance and do not take a professional oath, as is required by the 1996 public accounting act for all other public-sector accountants. They are thus not accountable to the Minister of Economy and Finance.³ Instead, the Minister of Defence is accountable for the authorisations made in the MDAC by all other officials and also for the actions of the accountants. These other officials are nonetheless subject to disciplinary, penal or civil procedures, so they do have an impetus to control the financial operations of the units for which they are responsible.³ The lack of an adequate division of responsibilities when allocating bonuses is made apparent by the case of senior army officials allegedly embezzling funds allocated for soldiers under their control (see 40B).
A senior security governance official told the assessor that there is a systemic problem in the payments system, which the official describes as ‘dysfunctional’. Despite what is officially published, the source said that pay is not always determined by rank: who you are and where you work are often more important determinants.⁴ “A soldier working within the presidency can earn more than his or her counterpart stationed in Ségou or Sikasso”.⁴
Both the World Bank and the IMF conclude that there are systematic problems with the measures in place to guarantee transparency in the payments system.⁵ ⁶ Indeed, the IMF says that even though “the payrolls are subject to multiple controls during the administrative and accounting phases (…) these controls are both redundant and insufficient to eliminate irregular payments”.⁶ It records that the Central Payroll Office does conduct some cross-checking of the pay slips manually and seeks to verify atypical amounts. “However, these controls on a large volume of data are most often conducted ex post because there is no mechanism for systematic detection of potential anomalies embedded in the information system”.⁶

There is not enough information to score this indicator. SEDENA and SEMAR have a Comprehensive Payroll Administration System through which the payroll of their personnel is calculated, prepared, executed, and paid. Official documents indicate that they have a payroll payment service with benefits such as timely payment of assets. [1] However, no information was found that allows us to know if there are delays in the payment of assets. [2] [3] [4] [5]

There is not enough information to score this indicator. No official or unofficial information was found that allows us to know if civilian and military personnel receive the correct pay or if they have discretionary adjustments. In this regard, there are no official complaints [1] [2] or coverage by the press or specialists on the subject. It is important to mention that there are some ranks within the Army who are paid by personnel from the same chain of command, so they could be subject to imprecise payments. [3] [4]

The payment system is not published. However, there is general information that can be accessed about the assets of military personnel and that it is available on the official sites of defence institutions. [1]

As part of the transparency system, the SFP has made the Transparent Payroll portal [2] available to the public, through which the income of Federal Public Administration officials can be consulted. However, the information from SEDENA and SEMAR in this regard is not publicly available. [3] [4] [5]

Payment of salaries is usually done on time. [1][2][3][4]

In just the year 2018, more than 500 employees initiated court cases against the Ministry in relation to labour issues, and many of those were related to inappropriate calculations of their payments. [1] Despite some employees withdrawing their cases from the court due to pressure from the Ministry, hundreds of complaints are active in the courts. [2][3] In some cases the courts decided that the Ministry had to pay significant amounts in compensation. [2]

In some cases, the Ministry established various working groups which provided no results, but their members received additional payments. [4]

Pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority, are established by regulations, as well as a list of some permitted allowances and expenses, but the entitlement criteria are vaguely defined, and there are no caps on entitlement. [1][2]
However, information about actual payments is not published, [3] and is considered secret by the Ministry, due to protection of privacy. [4]

No evidence that military and civilian armed forces personnel did not receive their pay on time was found in the press. It was also not highlighted as a major issue in NGO reports. It can therefore be assumed that the system of payment is well-established and routine, and that basic pay is non-discretionary. However, though it might be available locally or on request, it is not published and not available on the internet (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9).

This may suggest that they receive payment on time.

No evidence that military and civilian armed forces personnel did not receive their correct pay was found in the press (national or local). This was also not highlighted as a major issue in NGO reports. It can therefore be assumed that the system of payment is well-established and routine, and that basic pay is paid on time (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9).

Interviewees did not stress that wrong amounts were paid, although they indicated that due to the lack of transparency some personnel may receive more than others from the same rank. These alleged discretionary adjustments increase risks of corruption (10)(11).

No evidence that the payment system is published was found: neither the open gov nor ministry websites publish it (in Arabic or in French). It might be available locally, but not centrally, which increases risks of a lack of transparency(1)(2)(3)(4).

There is the Payment of Wages Law in Myanmar, enacted in 2016 [1], but military personnel are not included under this law because the military has the right to administer and adjudicate all affairs of the armed forces independently, according to Article 20(b) of the Constitution [2]. In a documentary entitled ‘Remnants of the Civil War’, one of the interviewees said that he did not receive his payment for the last four months when he resigned from the military [3]. Sometimes, frontline personnel have not received payment on time [4].

Shares for the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and life insurance premiums are duducted from personnel’s salary. Apart from that, personnel receive accurate payment [1]. Although salaries are not paid right on time, the amount is quite accurate [2].

There is a handbook specifying pay rates for personnel based on their rank in the military and an official said it could be published [1]. No evidence was found to support this on the websites of the Ministry of Defence or Senior General’s Office [2,3].

Personnel receive pay on time, which is usually monthly before the 25th of the month, in accordance with Dutch standards [1,2,3,4].

The standard salary is always paid accurately and on time. However, very occasionally, some allowances and additional bonuses are not factored into the total amount [1]. This is immediately fixed retroactively [1].

The payments and allowances scheme is published online and includes pay brackets for all ranks, pay scales (0-38) and service types (civilian, military) [1]. Allowances, entitlement criteria and caps are elaborated upon in law and policy [2,3,4]. The scheme is managed by the Human Resources Services Centre of the Ministry of Defence, which is separate from the defence units themselves [5]. Financial oversight of salaries is the role of the Ministry of Finance and is additionally audited yearly by the Central Government Audit Service [6].

According to the officer interviewed, personnel receive correct pay punctually. Sometimes allowances and promotion pay may be missed, but these are quickly corrected once an issue is raised [1]. To further support this statement, of the 963 Regular Force personnel who requested to leave the NZDF in FY 2018/19, only four personnel listed “Pay and Allowances” as the main reason for release from service [2]. In the OAG’s 2016/17 Annual Review Briefing to the FADTC, it identified deficiencies with payroll systems and controls, and although some had been corrected, they remained largely unresolved [3]. Owing to the information provided by the officer interviewed, it appears that these control deficiencies did not affect pay punctuality or accuracy, and have been corrected.

According to the officer interviewed, personnel receive correct pay punctually. Sometimes allowances and promotion pay may be missed, but these are quickly corrected once an issue is raised [1]. To further support this statement, of the 963 Regular Force personnel who requested to leave the NZDF in FY 2018/19, only four personnel listed “Pay and Allowances” as the main reason for release from service [2]. In the OAG’s 2016/17 Annual Review Briefing to the FADTC, it identified deficiencies with payroll systems and controls, and although some had been corrected, they remained largely unresolved. [3] Owing to the information provided by the officer interviewed, it appears that these control deficiencies did not affect pay punctuality or accuracy, and have been corrected.

The payment and allowances system is freely available to members of the NZDF on the NZDF HR Toolkit, and includes details such as remuneration tables, pay progression, higher duties pay, pay and payslip queries related to tax and overseas payments, allowances, deductions, superannuation schemes, and payroll processing. The details contained within these are also sub-divided between Military and Civilian remunerations schemes. [1]. Further information is found in Defence Force Order 3, Part 7: Remuneration, which is available upon request for members of the public. Within this DFO, both the military and civilian remuneration systems are delineated into pay groups depending on specialisation, rank, service locations, duties and a myriad of other inputs. [2] As far as can be identified, the unit in which one serves does not automatically dictate a change in pay, as that decision is dependent upon factors contained within the Total Rewards Model which enables the NZDF to identify remunerative components that constitute the overall remuneration scheme. As such, the unit in which one serves is not an important factor. A similar model is in place for Civilian (Administrative) staff. The policy contained within DFPO 3 is reviewed annually [2].

The assessor found no examples of wages being regularly delayed, unpaid or subject to discretionary adjustments (1,2).
There is no evidence that instances of late payment regularly occurring through 2015-2018. As per a desktop search using the keywords “arriérés” and “salaire”, the last time members of the police rioted over delays in the payment of salaries was in 2012. However, there is evidence of seven months of late payment of muncipal police agents working in Niamey (Mairie centrale), which is technically under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior (3,4).

This indicator has not been assigned a score due to insufficient information or evidence.

Pay rates for security and defence servants are available in service publications (1). While there is no information made available to the general public, the system for salaries and allowances is clearly established and determined either on the basis of the category which the civil servant belongs to or, on his/her longevity in office (2,3), according to existent legislation (4,5). However, the system does not provide details (at least available to public) on how the pay is calculated. Also, there is no evidence on the accuracy of payments received.

Pay rates for personnel working in security and defence are available in service publications (1). Even though if no information is made available to the general public, the system for salaries and allowances is clearly established. It is determined either on the basis of the category which the civil servant belongs to or, on his/her longevity in office (2,3), according to legal provisions (4,5). However, the system does not provide details on how the pay is calculated. 

The military is highly funded, but most of the money is squandered through corruption. The soldiers are poorly trained, poorly equipped, poorly paid, and not paid on time (1).

The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is an Information Communications Technology (ICT) project initiated by the Nigerian government to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of payroll administration for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) (1). This has been an attempt to get all MDAs into a computerized payroll system. The government intends to bring the military payroll within the IPPIS. September 2017 was the deadline to fully bring the payroll of the military into the IPPIS (2). This drive by the government suggested that there were around 200,000 military personnel in the armed forces.

The system involves a verification process, which should weed out ghost soldiers and establish a more accurate figure for serving personnel. Many MDAs, including the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the immigration, prison and the military have been integrated into the payroll system (2). However, not all MDAs are part of the new system. A lack of infrastructure and inaccurate information supplied by civil servants are a part of the policy challenges. Problems with the payment system subject soldiers to irregular pay. There are considerable mistakes made in calculating the basic pay of personnel, and wide discretion exercised concerning allowances (3).

The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is an Information Communications Technology (ICT) project initiated by the Nigerian government to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of payroll administration for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) (1). This has been an attempt to get all MDAs into a computerized payroll system. The government intends to bring the payroll of the military within the IPPIS. September 2017 was the deadline to fully bring the payroll of the military into the IPPIS (2). This drive by the government suggests that there are around 200,000 military personnel in the armed forces.

The system involves a verification process which should weed out ghost soldiers and establish a more accurate figure for serving personnel. Many MDAs have been integrated into the payroll system, including the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the immigration, prison and the military (2). However, not all MDAs are part of the new system. A lack of infrastructure and inaccurate information being supplied by civil servants are a part of the challenges facing the policy. Problems with the payment system subject soldiers to irregular pay. There are considerable mistakes made in calculating the basic pay of personnel, and wide discretion exercised concerning allowances (3) Payment information can sometimes lack full details on how individual pay is calculated. Further, there is a lack of transparency on all allowances and expenses.

The Collective Agreement of the Ministry of Defence [1] and the Law on Army Service [2] stipulate that staff salaries are paid at least once a month (Article 65) [1]. The salaries come out of the Ministry of Defence budget as well as indirectly from the state budget [3]. As such, the salaries and allowances are paid every month.

All budget users receive their payments on time and these are accurate and correct, according to the Law on Payment of Wages [1]. The payment is always directed to the private bank account of the employee (Article 8) [1]. There is no information to suggest this payment system is corrupt or malfunctioning.

The payment system is openly published and the methodology for each pay bracket, salary calculation, allowances and so on are contained in the Collective Agreement of the Ministry of Defence [1] and outlined in the relevant laws respective laws [2; 3].

There are normally no complaints of late payment [1]. However, the media has reported on late payments for some units of the Norwegian Home Guard (Heimevernet), a rapid mobilisation force in the Norwegian military [2]. The delays were caused by the centralisation of the payment system but now seem to be under control [1]. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for the Norwegian Armed Forces, incidents of late or incorrect payment are very rare, once or twice per year at most, and in such cases personnel get sufficient help from their respective trade unions [3].

The Armed Forces have not registered any instances of incorrect payment [1]. According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for the Norwegian Armed Forces, complaints of late or incorrect payment are very rare, once or twice per year at most, and in such cases personnel get sufficient help from their respective trade unions [2].

The payment and allowances system is openly published and available on the website of the Norwegian Union of Military Officers and Experts [1]. The information is comprehensive and includes pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; how individual pay is calculated; a list of some permitted allowances with the entitlement criteria. Some other allowances for the military personnel are available on the website of the Norwegian Armed Forces [2, 3]. Although there is detailed information on separate responsibilities for administrative staff, the individual’s chain/command chain and internal audit might not be publicly available. The system is highly centralised in Norway. The HR and Conscription Centre is the central administrative unit and is responsible for all salaries and payments in the Norwegian Armed Forces. The office is also in charge of producing the Armed Forces’ payroll accounting [4].

There is no public information available regarding salaries of personnel on the armed forces, and if there are delays or not, our sources confirm that the employees receive their salaries on time and correctly (1), (2).

There is no public information available regarding salaries of personnel on the armed forces, and if there are delays or not, our sources confirm that the employees receive their salaries on time and correctly (1), (2).

There is no public information available regarding salaries of personnel on the armed forces, and if there are delays or not, our sources confirm that the employees receive their salaries on time and correctly (1), (2).

There are occasional instances of late payment delays (5- 10 days) (1). There are no instances of late payments of more than one or two months in the last five years (2).

Basic pay may occasionally be subject to discretionary adjustments based on the general budget and availability of external funds. In some months, PA employees suffer from salary cuts because of budget deficits (1), (2).

The 2005 law includes a clear salary scale and employees receive salary slips, although there are exceptions (1). The PA does not publish their resources/income and their expenditures in detail. It is published in an aggregate form.

Personnel receive their pay on time. This meant that the salaries of military personnel, who all agreed to donate part of their April 2020 income to the Office of Civil Defence for procurement of medical supplies and equipment to fight COVID-19, were not automatically deducted on time [1]. Meanwhile, it was a different case for the modified base pay schedule approved by the President in January 2018 via the Joint Resolution No. 01 [2]. Due to the delayed passage of the budget through Congress, the increment could not be released on time [3]. As a result, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released National budget Circular 576 to rectify the issue [4].

In January 2018, President Duterte signed Joint Resolution No.1 authorising a pay increase for the military, police and other uniformed personnel in the government [1]. Doubling the salary of soldiers, policemen and other uniformed personnel had been one of the campaign promises of the President [2]. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) noted that the adjustment in compensation was commensurate with the personnel’s exposure to high-risk environments [3]. However, due to the delayed passing of the budget, the increase took effect a year later than intended [4]. The DBM issued a circular to explain that the salary was retroactive and to serve as the implementing guidelines of the correct monthly base pay of the military and other uniformed personnel [5].

Joint Resolution No. 1 repeals the provision of Executive Order No. 201 signed by former President Benigno Aquino III, which grants military and other uniformed personnel a monthly provisional allowance and monthly officers’ an allowance to supplement their compensation [1]. The hazard pay, meanwhile, shall now be fixed at P540. Separate from this resolution, President Duterte signed the Salary Standardisation Law intended to increase the wages of civilian government employees, including those working in the Defence Department but excluding military and uniformed personnel [2]. Both Joint Resolution No. 1 and the Salary Standardisation Law specify the pay brackets for all ranks/positions (disaggregated by seniority) and provide details on how individual pay is calculated, the fixed hazard pay for the military personnel and standard allowances for civilian employees. These two documents support of the Total Compensation Framework established by the Joint Resolution No. 4 in 2009, which adopted a list of permitted allowances and criteria which took into account the nature of responsibilities [3].

There are no cases published in the media about payment delays or other obstacles [1]. Generally, these problems do not exist within the public administration in Poland, which is perceived as a stable and reliable employer [2].

There are no cases published in the media about payment delays or other obstacles [1]. Generally, these problems do not exist within the public administration in Poland, which is perceived as a stable and reliable employer [2].

Payment system for military personnel has been based on several legal acts, which define pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority, details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from post and the list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement. The payment system does not differentiate between different types of staff.
The Ministry of National Defence published aggregated information on its website [1]. Pay rates and the amounts of most allowances for military personnel are regulated strictly with no room for discretionary decisions.
Pay rates for civil servants of MoD, disaggregated by ranks, and allowances are regulated by an ordinance of the prime minister based on the Civil Service Act [2].
Pay rates and allowances for civilian personnel of armed forces (which is not a part of civil service corps) are regulated by collective labour agreement. [3]
Pay rates and some allowances for civil service and civilain personnel of armed forces are regulated rather loosely (namely, the brackets are wide).
Payment frames are broad what leaves room for discretionary decisions when working out a work contract. The same issue occurs with undefined rules for discretionary rewards in civil service, as a consequence, more detailed information can only be obtained by request [4].

There has been no known delay in payments since 2011 [1]. Existing budgetary monitoring shows continued and consistent payments [2, 3, 4] on legally defined dates [5].

Existing public payment systems impede incorrect pay as it must be fully budgeted [1]. There are no known instances of incorrect pay.

The payment and allowance system is published for both military and civilian personnel [1, 2]. Given the current organisation of the Portuguese public administration and specific modes of organisation in the armed forces, there is no separation between audits, unit and administrative responsibilities. Instead, careers are arranged according to general or special pathways [2]. They are arranged around payment levels and positions: the former pertains to the single payment table while the latter pertains to career progression. Both are fully specified and published annually [3]. Allowances are specified for civilian and military personnel [1, 4].

The payment of salaries is on time with no known delays. The payment occurs automatically through bank accounts between 25-27th of each month. [1,2,3]

The payment system is accurate and is updated from time to time to comply with changes to laws and regulations. According to our sources, errors in payment is rare in the defence sector as well amongst civilian personnel. [1,2,3]

The payment system for defence personnel is not published (publicly), and therefore there is no transparency in relation to defence personnel payments. The government has exerted some efforts to ensure transparency in all the other sectors in the country. [1,2]

There are occasional reports of late payments at the MoD subsidiary enterprises across the country [1]. Recently, the most notorious case was the delayed payment of salaries to the construction workers at the ‘Vostochny’ launch site [2]. According to the journalist report, in the period from January to August 2017, the delays in payments ranged from 2 to 21 million rubles per month [2]. There are also occasional reports of the MoD delaying payments to its civil personnel. For example, in April 2018, the Voronezh regional court found the MoD budgetary institution ‘Central property management agency’ guilty of delaying a plumber’s salary [3].

In addition, the MoD contractor for construction works in Franz Josef Land [4] and the Arctic [5] reported payment delays in 2015 and 2016.

Besides delayed salary payments [1], the MoD budgetary institution ‘Central property management agency’ was found to be cutting the salaries of its personnel [2]. At the end of 2018, journalists also reported that the MoD planned to cut salaries of the ‘Pskov’ military garrison in order to allocate money for the construction of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces [3]. According to the official plan, the construction works for the cathedral are to be funded solely by private voluntary donations [4]. However, in September 2018, TV Rain reported that the MoD hastily deleted the webpage presenting the details of private donations that were all for the same sum of money – 12,254 rubles [5]. In addition, journalists reported that there might be corrupt schemes in financing and contracting agents for the construction [6].

The pay rates for civilian personnel are published annually by the Federal Service for State Satistics (RosStat) [1,2]. Additionally, the Labour Code of the Russian Federation regulates allowances for civilian personnel in the MoD [3].

Military personnel is divided into contracted personnel and recruited personnel [4]. According to Article 4, Point 3 of Federal Law No. 306, payment for contracted military personnel consists of payment by rank, payment by post and a number of allowances, and is paid out of both federal and regional budgets [4]. According to Article 4, Point 4 of the same law, payment for recruited military personnel consists of payment by post and a number of allowances [4]. The MoD website provides detailed information about payments by rank (organised by seniority) [5] and by post (organised by wage grade) [6].

According to Article 4, Point 3 of Federal Law No. 306, allowances for contracted military personnel include monthly allowances (for length of service, proficiency, work with state secrets, hazardous duty and excellence), a bonus for responsible performance of duties and annual financial aid [4]. The allowance for excellence and the bonus for responsible performance of duties are generally paid to all personnel unless someone is deprived of them due to disciplinary sanctions, failure of the fitness test or financial violations reflected in the inspection report [7].

According to Article 4, Point 4 of Federal Law No. 306, allowances for recruited military personnel include monthly allowances for proficiency, work with state secrets and hazardous duty [4]. According to Article 3 of the same law, there are also a number of allowances and social payments for retirement, disabillity, etc. [4]. The size of the allowance is based on the monthly payment of a soldier and the eligibility is mostly grounded on length of service [4].

Allowances for civil personnel include compensation for transportation costs, relocation, one-time financial aid and rental costs for those who work either in the northern or rural territories of Russia [8]. Eligibility is decided upon submission of documents (transport expenses, for example) and calculations are made accordingly [8].

According to our sources, there have been no delays in payments at all. The system works, and payments are received at the end of each month (1), (2), (3).

According to our sources, all employees of the MoD from soldiers to senior commanders receive the correct stated payments. If there is an error, they are corrected within days (1), (2), (3), (4).

The payment system for military and other government employees is not published in Saudi Arabia. According to our sources, there is a new payment system that has been used and developed further since 2017 with an advanced database (1), (2).

There is no evidence of untimely payments within the MoD and SAF in the previous two years. However, the long-term problem of overdue wages from the 1999 conflict has not been solved yet [1].

Payment and allowances system within the MoD and SAF is regulated with bylaws [1, 2]. The Government determines the basis for salaries calculation for professional military personnel, whereas the Rulebook on Salaries for Professional Military Personnel regulates the coefficients for the calculation of salaries, criteria for the increase and decrease of salaries, payment deadlines, severance pay etc. Even though no evidence about inaccurate payments within the MoD and SAF has been identified in the previous period, most recently, military trade union warned about the problem with night shift allowances. The union highlighted a large number of their members’ complaints, claiming that they do not receive a full amount legally envisaged for night-time work [3].

Bylaws regulating the payment and allowances system can be found in the Official Military Gazette, a public bulletin that contains all the legal acts and bylaws within the scope of MoD and SAF work. Also, average salaries for different military ranks are regularly updated and published on the MoD website [1]. Formally, bylaws regulate the basis and coeficient for calculating the salary, based on the rank, time spent in service etc. Different allowances, such as travel costs, overtime, work in difficult conditions, life separated from family etc, are also precisely defined within the bylaws.

The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) payroll matters are handled by the Defence Management Group [1, 2]. There is no evidence in recent years to suggest that the personnel payroll system has been unreliable.

There is no evidence to suggest that there have been pay disputes on a system-wide level. The MINDEF has in place recovery procedures for overpayment, as well as a channel for complaints about National Service pay matters [1]. Although this caters to conscripts and reservists, there is reason to infer that there is a comparable system that deals with regular troops. For example, the MINDEF has withheld salaries from suspended regular personnel, demonstrating its attention to payment accuracy [2].

Information on the pay rates and allowances of military personnel is publicly available for junior-middle rank officers for the purposes of recruitment. Information for salaries and allowances for senior military personnel, as well as civilian personnel, is either not public or not presented in a detailed manner [1, 2, 3, 4]. Information of military and civilian personnel allowances, such as those based on vocation, risk, and deployments, have not been made public.

There have been sporadic reports of pay disputes or lack of access to paid-positions, but this has been largely restricted to the Reserve Forces [1]. Within the regular force, the payment of salaries has not been a cause for concern. A lack of reporting on this is a major indicator of this, as significant pay issues would have been raised publicly by the South African National Defence Force Union (SANDU).

There have not been any recent cases of widespread inaccuracies in the payment of salary amounts in the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) [1].

Pay scales are made available through the Department of Defence Annual Report and the Defence Force Service Commission [1, 2]. There has been a recent push within the SANDF to delink salary scales from rank, pushing them closer to years of service [3, 4]. The annual report lists each pay band according to seniority and role clearly. It is not clear whether details on allowances and expenses is also provided.

South Korean personnel in the defence sector receive pay on time based on the Military Personnel Remuneration Act and Public Officials Remuneration Regulations. [1] [2] The pay date varies between institutions, and personnel at the Ministry of National Defence and relevant government entities receive pay on the 10th of each month. [2] Since public officials receive pay based on clear laws, such as Public Officials Remuneration Regulations, there have been no complaints or accusations that suggest delayed payment. [3] [4]

The system of payment is well-established and published. The Ministry of National Defence publishes the Defence Statistic Annual Report and the Defence White Paper which include pay rates disaggregated by rank. [1] [2] This indicates that personnel receive the correct pay depending on their rank.

The payment and allowance systems are openly published. The 2018 Defence Statistic Annual Report of the Ministry of Defence includes the details of personnel expenditures. [1] Pay brackets for all ranks are set up by presidential decree and the relevant table is publicly available. [2]

Regular delays in government salaries, including for the military, are de jure. Sometimes salaries are delayed for over seven months. [1] As of May 2020, salaries had not been paid for six months. [2]

Employees sometimes do not receive their full salary due to cash shortages that lead to cash rationing. [1] For instance, when salaries are delayed for over a year, they will be paid three months worth of their pay. There is currently a huge backlog of arrears. The IMF noted: “With cash rationing, arrears grew, and civil servants’ salaries lagged by at least 3 months. In the first half of 2018/19, the fiscal path was similar, running essentially a balanced cash deficit and maintaining 3–4 months of salary arrears.” [1]

Such information is not available publicly. South Sudan does not have an official Government Gazette, for instance, that would faciliate the publishing of this information.

Payments are in general made on time, as is the case in Spain with public workers. In certain cases (e.g. expenses), the payment takes some time as a result of the bureaucratic process, whilst some expenses are sometimes paid in advance [1].
In the Civil Guard, salary payments are normally done two days before the month ends. There are frequent mistakes, according to interviews, these are usually resolved within three months. Mistakes are often associated with overtime payments, internally referred to as “bufandas” (bonus, complementary payment), which include night shifts or work on bank holidays and do not represent a significant amount of money (around €300 per year). These mistakes in complementary payments are often related to the miscalculation of hours served and a lack of funding in the monthly budget [2].

Payments for both civilian and military personnel are regulated by law and are publicly available [1, 2]. Each person also gets the payment allowances according to what they expect in advance [3], whilst the allowance from the Complemento de Dedicación Especial (CDE) may occasionally be subject to discretionary adjustments.

The payment and allowances system is published and includes pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; details on how individual pay is calculated; and a list of all permitted allowances and expenses, and the entitlement criteria. It is possible to know who gets what and how much, except in the case of the allowance by the CDE [1]. The regulation establishes that the distribution of the CDE must include notification of both the general allocation to a unit and what each member receives. However, this regulation is not followed in practice [1]. In 2009, the first sentence was produced in Spain requiring a defence delegation to make public the allocation of the overall CDE received by a unit and the amount for each person. It also required the Ministry of Defence to specify the specific functions carried out by each member, which make him worthy of the CDE. The judgment concluded that the technical discretion to distribute the supplement among the members of the unit did not authorise “arbitrary discrimination or assignments,” noting in the judgment, the publicity of the CDE distribution avoided “situations of inequality or injury” [2]. However, that resolution only affected that particular unit, an exceptional case, and the lack of transparency regarding the CDE continues today, and no other similar judicial procedure has happened [1].

The payment system also includes separate administrative, unit and audit responsibilities. There is in Spain an official “Observatorio de la Vida Militar” (Observatory of the Military Life) whose composition is decided by the Congress/Senate and whose responsibilities include the payments to the military [3]. This service has been inactive between 2018 and 2020, but this is related to the general political situation in Spain, where parliamentary agreement is to arrive to renew membership in many different institutions as current members have already fulfilled their mandate.

According to an expert on Sudan’s defence sector, the Army has almost always paid on time, but the police less so [1]. He said that in 2015 or 2016, police were leaving the ranks because the government salary was insufficient and not on time. In any case, he said, soldiers and police were always paid before public sector employees in other sectors, such as education and health. Separately, another expert on Sudan’s defence sector noted that before Bashir fell in 2019, the army hadn’t been paid and were blocking highways in protest [2].

In his report on Sudan’s political marketplace, De Waal explains that SAF soldiers are paid through regular army channels, while RSF commanders receive cash payments that they distribute to their soldiers at their own discretion [1]. Also with regard to how discretionary adjustments affect the rank and file: according to a 2020 report published by the European Commission on Foreign Relations, some SAF soldiers have defected to or been poached by the RSF because the RSF pays more [2].

A review of the websites of the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Finance [1,2,3], as well as an internet search, suggests that the payment system is not published. Additionally, while SAF soldiers are paid through regular army channels, RSF commanders distribute cash to soldiers as they see fit [4].

Overall, the payment system appears routine and Swedish National Audit Office (NAO) has noted no instances of late payment during the studied time period [1].

There have been occasional instances of incorrect payment. NAO has observed a ‘number of cases where salary has been paid to persons who were not entitled to payment due to being on a leave of absence’. NAO has annually since 2009 recommended Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) to ‘strengthen the internal procedures for managing salary payments’, including improved oversight to ensure that individuals who receive salary from SAF ‘also work for the agency’ [1]. Despite this, in a 2017 audit, it was noted that such inaccurate payments had been made for a period of up to seven months [1]. In 2015, it was noted that SAF had inaccurately paid salary to an individual for a period of four years [2].

Little detailed information is made publicly available online. In the SAF annual reports [1], pay rates are published only for selected high-level civilian and military personnel in the SAF. Details on how pay rates or allowances are calculated are not published online. However, information regarding salaries of personnel in the defence sector is included under the Public Access Law [2], which regulates public insight into the activities of the authorities, and can thus be accessed upon request.

The Code of Obligation of the Federal Civil Code defines the rules of salary payment. In case of delayed repeated delayed payments the employee has the right to end the contract immediately, refuse to work (Article 82) ask for compensation (Article 104 and 106) and in cases of non-payment take legal action [1]. Salaries in Switzerland are usually paid on time, and there is no indication that the government delays payments. If this were the case, it is likely to be picked up by the media and reported on.

The Code of Obligation of the Federal Civil Code defines the rules of salary payment. Incorrect payments would lead to legal actions based on the code of obligations [1] via the independent judiciary. Several social insurances and retirement funds are linked to the salary and paid as a fraction of the salary. Income taxes are also depending on a standardized salary certificate [2]. Therefore, even if incorrect payments would not be noticed by the internal and external auditors, other institutions outside the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) would be likely to discover discrepancies.

The basis for all rules concerning personnel working for the federal administration can be found in the Federal Personnel Act (Bundespersonalgesetz) (BPG) [1]. The Federal Council provides a framework ordinance for the BPG (Rahmenverordnung zum BPG). The Federal Personnel Ordinance (Bundespersonalverordnung) (BPV) lays out the implementing provisions for the employees of the federal administration (including the DDPS) [2]. The Federal Department of Finance (FDF) Ordinance on the BPV (Verordnung des EFD zur Bundespersonalverordnung) (VBPV) specifies the provisions of the BPV further, namely issues like salaries, evaluations, work hours and expenses [3]. Rules for executive salaries regulated in the Executive Pay Ordinance (Verordnung über die Entlöhnung und weitere Vertragsbedingungen der obersten Kader und Leitungsorgane von Unternehmen und Anstalten des Bundes, Kaderlohnverordnung) [4]. The DDPS in coordination with the FDF issues an Ordinance for Valuation of Special Functions within the DDPS (Verordnung des VBS über die Bewertung der besonderen Funktionen im VBS) that assigns a salary class to specific functions including professional military according to rank [5]. These functions are assigned to a specific bracket (Lohnklasse) published by the Swiss Confederation, specifying the salary scale applying to all employees in the federal administration [6]. There is a yearly government report to the Parliament’s finance delegation on executive pay in companies linked to the government (including RUAG) [7]. The confederation provides different types of allowance in addition to the regular salary. There are allowances linked to (e.g. extra pay for the location, premiums and boni) and those independent of a particular employees performance (family allowance, public transport subsidies, paternity leave) [3]. These allowances are listed in article 32 and articles 43-51 of the BPG. The law limits the amount and defines the procedures for these payouts [1]. Family allowances are integral to the published salary scale [6]. For executive pay within the administration as well as companies of which the Swiss Confederation is a stakeholder, allowances have to be published in their entirety (Article 6.4 BPG) [1]. The Federal Council reports annually to the Finance Delegation of the National Council on executive salaries of companies like RUAG [7]. The type of allowances for executives are defined in article 5 of the Kaderlohnverordnung [4].

The remuneration systems of Taiwan’s Armed Forces are extremely computerised in conjunction with the personnel management systems. Guidelines issued by the Ministry of National Defense requires the military compensation delivered to all personnel on time [1]. No complaints of late payment are reported in last five years in conventional forms of media, public domains, or on social media [2].

The remuneration systems of Taiwan’s armed forces are extremely computerised in conjunction with the personnel management systems. Guidelines issued by the Ministry of National Defence require military compensation to be accurately delivered to all personnel 1]. No complaints of inaccurate payment have been reported in th last five years in the conventional media, on public domains, or on social media [2].

The remuneration systems of Taiwan’s Armed Forces are extremely computerised in conjunction with the personnel management systems. Guidelines issued by the Ministry of National Defence require tmilitary compensation to be delivered to all personnel with pay schemes which are made public, including ranks, times of services, allowances, expenses, and stipends [1, 2]. For personnel, the payments details of Taiwan’s military are separated with administrative, unit and audit responsibilities. No complaints of mis-issued payment have been reported in the last five years in the conventional media, on public domains, or on social media [3].

There is no evidence of late payments. However, they would be unlikely to be made public by either the serving military themselves, or the media. Officially, all Public Servants receive their payment every month between the 20th and 25th. Sometimes there are differences in the dates between civilians and the millitary because of the differences in the ministries but the difference is not significant and lies within the range of the 23th to 25th of every month. [1] Except as provided by subsection 2 of this section, every reservist shall be paid quarterly at such uniform rate per month as may from time to time be determined by the Minister and may receive, in addition, such allowances as the Minister may determine. [2] When called out under the provisions of section 117 or section 118, every reservist shall receive the pay and allowances relating to his rank.

Personnel receive correct pay according to a senior military officer interviewed, but this could not be verified. While broad government pay scales are published, those specific to the military are not. [1] [2]

The payment and allowances system is published internally and some information is released to general public. It includes at least all of the following: according to Public Service Standing order 2009 -The details on how individual pay is calculated is not included in monthly salary but included in other allowances such as payments that are done when an officer is away from his/her area of work. A list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement, separated by administrative, unit and audit responsibilities. The Police force and Auxiliary Act [1] states that, except as provided by subsection 2 of this section, every reservist shall be paid quarterly at such uniform rate per month as may from time to time be determined by the Minister and may receive, in addition, such allowances as the Minister may determine. [2] When called out under the provisions of section 117 or section 118 every reservist shall receive the pay and allowances of his rank. However, separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities are not published in the guidelines. [4]

According to the Royal Decree on Salaries, Pension and Other Kinds of Incomes 1992, Section 20, salary payments for civil servants must be completed three days before the end of each month [1]. In 2018, the Comptroller General’s Department announced a new policy enforcing the completion of salary payments for military officials within five days before the end of each month. The new policy also includes the establishment of the E-Social Welfare system, which pays the salaries directly to each military official’s account [2].

In 2018, the Comptroller General’s Department announced a new policy requiring the MoD to pay salaries to each military official’s account through the E-Social Welfare system in order to increase transparency and accuracy in the payment system [1]. Nonetheless, there are some cases of sergeant majors who, instead, keep their subordinates’ bank accounts and ATM cards with them and withdraw cash to allocate salaries to the conscripts at the end of each month. The complaints around this issue show that personnel are not guaranteed to receive the correct salary [2].

The annex in the Military Service Act 2008 details the pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority, and the allowances for all civilian and military personnel are openly published, including the criteria for eligibility and the calculation methods [1,2,3]. This information includes separate responsibilities for administrative staff, the individual’s unit/command chain, and internal audit. Moreover, with the introduction of the E-Social Welfare system in 2018, details of payments are more transparent and easier to scrutinise [4].

According to our sources, salaries of MoD employees are paid on time without delays (1,2). There is no evidence through the media of stories of military and civil personnel in the Ministry of Defence receiving late payments (3). Their payments are made on time through the computer application INSAF which includes all categories of personnel of the armed forces (4).

According to our sources, the salaries are paid on time and accurately with great precision. Mistakes may happen but are fixed within days (1,2). There is no evidence through the media of stories of military and civil personnel in the Ministry of Defence receiving incorrect payment (3). The computer application INSAF, through which payments are made, ensures the accuracy of the paid amounts (4).

According to our sources, the payment systems are available online for the public. However, not all data and categories are detailed on the list (1,2,3). The payment system is published in the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic through legal texts (Decrees and decisions of the Minister of Defence) (4). General and special texts (relating to the airforce, the land army, military health services, etc..) are available online. Information such as pay brackets, allowances, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement are published (5).

All military personnel and civilians working in the TAF receive the correct pay on time, and the system of payment is well established and routine [1]. Interviewee 6 suggested that the most recent case of delayed payment was in the late 1990s for three months due to economic crisis. Since then, he confirmed there have not been any cases of delayed payment [2]. All interviewees unanimously suggested that they have never witnessed or heard about the delay in the payment of salaries [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Not a single report/news piece about the violation of the well-established and routine payment/salary system was found through open-source research.

Personnel receive the correct pay. In this sense, payment policies within the TAF are considered just and fair [1]. All interviewees, four of whom have a military background, unanimously confirmed that the TAF’s payment policies are very well established and regulated [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Not a single report/news piece about the violation of this rule or any complaint raised by military personnel was found through open-source research.

As emphasised above, the payment system within the TAF is fully transparent and open for monitoring by any personnel through the e-financial management system of the TAF’s intranet. However, the TAF is not traditionally inclined to share any information about its payment system with the general public. Thus, the payment system is not published and publicly available. These details are therefore published on the intranet even if not publicly.

One of the objectives of the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs (MoDVA) is to ensure that salaries are paid on time. The Ministerial policy Statement 2019/2012 reported that they ensured that staff salaries and emoluments were accurately processed and paid by the 28th of every month. According to the same statement, by the end of the first half of the year, salaries worth UGX 255bn had been paid to employees. This was also confirmed by the deputy army spokesperson [2].

Salaries are paid according to the salary scales detailed in the policy statement [1]. There are no cases of late or incorrect pay [2].

While the salaries are paid centrally by the ministry of finance, planning and economic development, the allowances are paid by the MoDVA [1]. If one wanted to see the payment system from the Ministry of Finance, it would not include the allowances, vice versa. The pay scale as per the MoDVA is categorised according to rank, disaggregated by seniority. For all the posts in the MoDVA, like other government entities, the starting salary scales are known, and this will keep increasing with years and subsequent promotions. All the administrative responsibilities come along with additional allowances and expenses. However, this information is not publically available, making its transparency a challenge.

There is evidence that defence personnel may receive their pay with later than promised [1, 2, 3, 4]. Although, a former ATO participant stated that the number of cases with payment delays is decreasing [5]. There is information about cases that such payments as the compenstation for vacation of soldiers who were participating in combat in the war with Russia in the East of Ukraine were not paid during 2016-2018 [6]. Last cases of pay delay for soldiers and officers on contract which was possible to find dated July 2016. The pay delay was two weeks and caused a media scandal with further quick steps to resolve the problem [7].

There is evidence that defence personnel may receive not the correct pay due to unit commanders discretionary decisions [1, 2, 3]. A former ATO participant stated that some of the additional payments are not paid at all (like additional payment for being engaged in combat since some unit commanders try to conform de-jure to the ceasefire) [4].

Pay rates for military personnel are publicly available and disaggregated by rank [1, 2]. Summarised information is made available to the general public [3, 4, 5]. Servicemen do not get their salary calculations by default, but financial unit officers could (50/50) provide them with those calculations on-demand [6]. They do not get a list of all permitted allowances although the MoD provides in its central printing agency an explanation about the salary and allowances system [7]. Audit responsibilities (MoD Internal Audit Department) are separated with the administrative and unit ones.

Research has revealed that the government in the UAE has strict rules and regulations concerning timely payments for private and public sector employees. Federal Decree No. 11 of the year 2008, which stipulates timely payment for all employees, also applies to public sector employees and civil servants, whose salaries are paid from the federal budget (1), (2).

There is no evidence to suggest that incorrect payments to staff are made within the defence sector. All legislation and regulations show that the UAE is strict concerning timely and accurate staff payments for public and private sector employees. The payment is an automated system for the base salary and annual and monthly bonuses (1), (2).

The military payment system is not published. There is a general lack of transparency about military conduct in the UAE. Despite the existence of a payment system, the working mechanisms of this payment system are not available to the public. Mention of the payment system is available on the official website of the UAE government, but nothing beyond that is available to the pubic (1), (2). It is important to note here that in terms of transparency concerning payments, the only precedent of transparency concerning payments of defence sector employees has been a federal decree concerning military conscription, which included details about the pay scale for military conscription recruits (3), (4), (5).

With the exception of a payroll glitch that delayed receiving of a bonus in 2018, there is no indication to suggest that there are any delays in receiving the payment [1].

The majority of the time, military personnel receive the correct pay on time and there are no systemic issues in the salary payment system (as outlined in 40A). However, overpayments are common in any major public body and recorded in annual accounts. In 2018-19 the MoD recorded £3.6m losses through overpayments [1]. Notably, in 2016, 15 pilots resigned from the UK Army after the MoD demanded that they return the overpaid wages [2].

The payment and allowances system is openly published. It includes all of the following: pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; details on how individual pay is calculated, including time starting in post / away from post; a list of all permitted allowances and expenses, the entitlement criteria, and caps on entitlement; separated administrative, unit and audit responsibilities [1, 2, 3].

There have been no recorded instances of pay being delayed in the last five years. However, there have been a number of cases of pay raises and allowances not being paid, either as a result of technological glitches [1] or government shutdown, which typically affects military compensation increases [2,3].

There have been a few cases of improper pay. For example, in 2016, the DoD demanded that the California National Guard soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan repay large enlistment bonuses [1]. This was quickly reversed after significant media interest and backlash [2]. In 2020, the DoD’s financial statements revealed that the DoD had made almost $5 billion worth of improper payments in its civilian payroll [3]. It is not yet clear how these were rectified, if at all.

Pay tables are published annually, detailing salaries disaggregated by rank [1]. The Defence Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) also publishes allowance tables, which are regularly updated [2]. The ‘Military Compensation’ website provides contextual information on the types of pay that can make up a salary, including special & incentive pay and allowances, and breaks down these elements of pay into their most common forms. For example, the section on ‘Basic Allowance for Subsistence’ has two paragraphs on the background of the allowance and who is eligible, and states the current rate for officers and enlisted personnel [3]. Basic pay rates are outlined in tabulated form on the DFAS website, alongside further details on various forms of allowances [2]. There was no clear information on entitlement caps but the criteria for most allowances are outlined either on the Military Compensation website or through linking the relevant regulation which governs the allowance, for example [4].

The pay tables are for military active and reserve personnel and rates are provided for commissioned officers, warrant officers and enlisted members [2]. The DFAS pays all DoD military and civilian personnel. The published pay tables do not seem to separate administrative, unit and audit personnel responsiblities.

Though there is no public access to information on payments by the Ministry of the People’s Power for Defence (MPPD), experts consulted in this research have not highlighted any issues regarding the punctuality of payments to members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) [1, 2]. Likewise, there were no reports of late payments within information obtained from recently defected officers, although complaints were made related to problems with Social Security payments and the poor working conditions of military personnel [3, 4].

According to sources provided, personnel always receive the correct pay on time [1]. However, there is a continual problem in that designated salaries quickly become worthless due to hyperinflation – a factor which constantly forces personnel to find additional sources of income. As a result, even though personnel receive the correct amount, this amount is insufficient to buy food or, worse, there is no food available for purchase [2,3,4].

The payments system is not published, and is only privately accessible through the MPPD website [1, 2]. There is no accountability or scrutiny of this ministry from the administration, and unofficial information made public on the management of defence sector resources only shows summarised amounts of total defence personnel expenditure [3].

The Government of Zimbabwe pays its employees once every month. There have not been reports of late payment of salaries in recent times, including in the military; the dates are published in advance [1, 2].

The salaries are set by the Defence Service Commission, whose chairperson is the chairperson of the Public Service Commission in line with the Defence Act and the National Constitution [1, 2]. The salaries for the military are processed by the Uniformed Services Agency through its centralised system. There is no room for discretionary adjustment once the agency has set the salaries [3].

The government does not publish military salaries in aggregated or disaggregated formats. However, payslips are reflective of allowances and salaries of junior soldiers [1]. Payslips cannot be the basis for estimating the salaries of the different ranks of the soldiers [2]. According to a source in the intelligence services, they are instructed to destroy their payslips, and if it is leaked the officer is subjected to disciplinary action [3].