Austerity in public administration
The meal allowance, as a symbol of workers' rights, remains fully intact. (To eat and drink is to live.)
The net salaries of all employees in the public administration of the Republic of Slovenia are reduced by 5%. This spreads the burden of the recession evenly over all employees. On the payroll, the gross salary remains the same, but a 5% recession exit tax is introduced. Thus, only the net salary is reduced. When better times come, this 5% tax is simply abolished. The tax is levied on paper only, and the net wage is 5% lower.
If the gross wage is reduced by 5%, there will be proportionately less money for taxes and contributions (pensions, health care, etc.) and we will find that we have done nothing again.