Pay shock for civil servants as SRC harmonises allowances

 

A pay shock awaits civil servants in a move by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to harmonise allowances paid to various cadres of state officers.

SRC on Monday revealed that allowances paid for similar purposes will be merged and renamed while those whose rates are not commensurate to purpose will be restructured.

Allowances whose form doesn’t change will be retained while those whose rationale for payment is redundant will be abolished.

The Lyn Mengich-led SRC aims at minimizing disparities in gross remuneration package with the ultimate aim being to cap allowances at 40 per cent of basic pay.

The SRC chairperson said the third remuneration cycle will be looking at total pay as the basis for the third review, not just basic salary.

She said a study in 2019 revealed there are over 200 allowances being paid to civil servants which have seen the wage bill grow exponentially over the years.

Chairperson Lyn Mengich said the new cycle may take effect six months after June, a time when the commission projects to have completed the review.

“Everybody will be affected. Some will impact more on other sectors of the employees. New employees will be affected where an allowance is being abolished. If provided for in a contractual obligation, it will not affect immediate staff enjoying that benefit,” the SRC boss said at a meeting with journalists on Monday.

“All the other ten or so policies will impact each and every employee in the sector.”

Commissioners Margaret Sawe, Mumbua Munyao, John Monyocho, and CEO Anne Gitau were present.

The commission said the review followed the need for a common framework to manage allowances in the public sector.   BY THE STAR