Senate OKs proposed salary increase for gov’t workers

Voting,  14-0, the Senate on Monday afternoon approved on third and final reading the proposed Salary Standardization Law IV (SSL IV) defining the new and upgraded salary scale for each salary grade of all government employees to be implemented in a four-year period.

Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier said the SSL IV will be implemented with the funds coming from the authorization in the 2016 national budget.

At least P57 billion have already been allocated for the wage hike in the proposed 2016 national budget.

The House of Representatives, voting 170-5-1, approved its version on Wednesday last week.

Senate Bill 2671 states  the new compensation scheme aims to bring the pay of government personnel closer to the prevailing rates in the private sector to attract and retain competent and committed personnel in the public sector.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with Sen. Chiz Escudero as co-sponsor, took into consideration similar bills filed by Drilon, Senators Ralph Recto, Vicente Sotto III,  Loren Legarda, Teofisto Guingona III, and Cynthia Villar. 

Under the bill, the minimum salary for Salary Grace 1  will be raised from the current P9,000 to P11,068 “to make it even more competitive with the market rates.”

The bill aims to bring the compensation of government personnel closer to their private counterparts to at least 70 percent of the market rate for all salary grades and ensure that authorized salaries  for each of the salary grade shall not overlap to recognize differences in duties and responsibilities.

It also provides for a compensation adjustment partly as basic salary and partly as mid-year 14th month pay to maximize the employees’ net take home pay.

It states that on Jan. 1, 2016, the compensation adjustment will be in the form of the first tranche salary increase and a mid-year bonus; on Jan. 1, 2017, the compensation adjustment will consist of the second tranche salary increase, mid-year bonus, and 50 percent of the enhanced performance-based bonus.

By Jan. 1, 2018, the compensation adjustment will include the third tranche salary increase, mid-year bonus, and the enhanced performance-based bonus; and by Jan. 1, 2019, the full implementation of the SSL 2015 will be composed of the final tranche salary increase, the mid-year bonus, and the enhanced performance-based bonus.

For example, nurses who are currently receiving P24,887 per month, under Salary Grade 15, will have their salaries raised to P26,192 next year.  In the final year of the SSL, their monthly salaries will have been raised to P30,531.

Trillanes said a similar hike would be applied to the pay of military and uniformed personnel, as army privates, apprentice seamen and police officers of the lowest rank would have their monthly salaries raised from P14,834 to P16, 597. 

He said the pay increase for military and uniformed personnel sought to promote “pay equity for an effective, efficient, committed, competent and motivated corps of officers and enlisted personnel.”

He said the higher wages to be introduced under the SSL IV would serve as an anti-corruption measure.

“Due to the competitive compensation package, our public servants can be effectively discouraged from resorting to scrupulous activities in order to augment their meager income and instead, focus their efforts and energy on serving the public, curbing corruption, and cutting red tape,” said Trillanes.  — RSJ, GMA News