By Samuel Boadi
ABOUT 150 jobs are expected to be re-evaluated this year for their inclusion on the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP), George Smith-Graham, Chief Executive of the Fair Wages & Salaries Commission (FWSC) has noted.
The exercise, which could cost between $20,000 and $30,000, has become necessary following negotiations between some worker organisations and FWSC in order to fine-tune their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) in tandem with the SSPP.
Mr Smith-Graham stated that the current pay policy, which already covers some 1,806 jobs, does not recognise the educational background and work experience of workers, adding that it rather focuses on 13 factors captioned under knowledge and skill; responsibility; work conditions and environment and efforts of employees.
Also, he said his outfit would very soon negotiate base pay and its relativities, standardize and harmonize allowances and also develop public service-wide performance management systems.
The 5-year implementation programme of the SSPP, which started from September 2009, is expected to be completed by September 2014.
On allowances, he said those under category 1 have already been consolidated into the evaluation of civil servants, stressing that “they would not be paid separately again.”
“Category 2 deals with special conditions that require compensation including acting, inducements, height and tools allowances. Category 3, which covers staff welfare such as funeral and medical grants, night subsistence and transfer allowance, are yet to be standardized.
“Government has not taken any decision yet on category 4, which covers housing, utility, houseboys, maid servants and car maintenance,” he said.
A survey by CoEN Consulting Limited, a consultancy firm that helped to draft SSPP, revealed that the health service personnel were well paid than those in the judiciary service.
The 25-level grading and salary structure is aimed at creating one vertical structure for all public servants to ensure that jobs with same ob value range are entitled to same pay range to allow government to manage wage bill effectively to link pay to productivity.
Unlike the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS), which had no legal structure, the SSPP was established through the promulgation of FWSC Act, 2007 (Act 737).
“No institution can opt out of SSPP,” J.Y. Amankrah, Director of Pay Policy, Analysis and Research at FWSC emphasized during a presentation.
Currently, about 453,000 people constitute the workforce of the civil service.
Organised labour, he hinted, proposed a salary increment prior to the implementation of SSPP by July this year.
“It is being discussed with the Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning (MOFEP), but if the proposals are likely to disrupt the micro-economic stability, then the increment would not take place,” he added.
Also, FWSC would determine the contribution of the public sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
Mr. Amankrah therefore called on organizations, which are considering restructuring, to contact FWSC to determine new salary structures of any new portfolios to be created.
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