PM announced civil service payrise

Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a pay package increase between 7.5% to 35% for more than one million civil servants earlier on Monday. It is definitely great news for the custodian of public funds.

Bernama has the story:

Civil Servants To Get Pay Increase Of Up To 35 Pct

PUTRAJAYA, May 21 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today announced a pay increase of between 7.5 per cent and 35 per cent for the more than one million civil servants in the country, effective July 1.

They will also get a 100 per cent increase in the cost of living allowance (Cola).

In recognition of the heavy responsibility of police and military personnel and the challenges they face in the line of duty, Abdullah said they would get an additional 20 per cent on top of the increase.

Speaking at the Workers Day gathering for the public sector here, he said the basic salary of the Support Group II (Grades 1 to 16) would be increased by 35 per cent while those in the Support Group I (Grades 17 to 40) would get a 25 per cent increase.

For the Management and Professional Group (Grades 41 to 54), the increase is 15 per cent while those in the Premier Grade (Jusa) will get a 7.5 per cent pay hike.

Abdullah said the salary increase for the 1,002,040 civil servants would cost the government RM3.4 billion this year or an additional annual expenditure of RM6.8 billion.

The increase in the payment of Cola will involve an additional expenditure of RM600 million this year or RM1.2 billion annually.

Abdullah said the strong growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product over the past five years, averaging 5.6 per cent annually, was the first factor considered by the government in determining the quantum of the pay hike.

This, he said, was spurred by the growth in private sector investment and the external trade volume which had surpassed the RM1 trillion mark.

“All these have allowed interest rates, inflation and unemployment to remain low. The Bursa Malaysia Composite Index also reflects the country’s tremendous economic growth, reaching its highest level recently,” he said.

The prime minister said the second factor was the need to attract and retain qualified, highly-motivated and performance-driven human capital in the civil service.

The government, he said, was also concerned about the rising cost of living due to the hike in global oil prices which had affected those in the lower income bracket.

The fourth factor, Abdullah said, was the government’s affordability which was aided by a marked increase in tax collection and a more prudent execution of expenditure.

“In fixing the quantum, the government is always mindful of its repercussions on the country’s financial position. Any salary increase will also involve pension calculations and certain allowances.

“The quantum has been decided carefully and prudently. The government was able to reduce the budget deficit from 5.3 per cent in to 3.5 per cent last year and we’ll continue with this prudent fiscal management,” he added.

Saying that the pay hike would lessen the burden of those in the lower income group, Abdullah said that at the same time, they should be mindful of the people’s higher expectations of the civil service.

“They’ll expect a high-quality civil service that commensurates with the salary increase. Take this opportunity to increase productivity and the quality of service to the people,” he added.

-The prime minister also urged government employees to be prudent consumers in light of the reported price increases lately.

“Do report errant traders to the authorities and spend your money elsewhere. Consumers who exercise their rights are smart consumers. Tell others if you come across these errant traders so that people won’t have to deal with them.

“The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry should also increase monitoring and efforts to educate the public on consumer rights,” he said.

Highlighting a matter close to his heart, Abdullah said the government wanted the country’s public sector to emerge as one that would achieve global distinction.

“The government is counting on its employees to add value to their work. They should strive to reduce red tape, be friendly, transparent, responsive, creative — putting the interests of customers above all else,” he added.

Abdullah said that civil servants should change their mindset to deliver services speedily, bearing in mind that they should play the role of facilitators and partners of the people and the private sector.

— BERNAMA

This is Ceupacs reaction to the announcements:

Cuepacs Happy Pay Rise Meets Expectation

PUTRAJAYA, May 21 (Bernama) — The Cuepacs is happy with the salary increase of up to 35 percent for civil servants announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today as it meets the aspiration and target of the congress. Cuepacs president Omar Osman said the congress was also happy that the government had increased the cost of living allowance (COLA) by 100 percent. “We are satisfied, we are very happy with the announcement by the PM (Prime Minister) today. “It’s certainly a historical announcement for us, the best. Previously when we asked, it was far below our expectations sometimes. “We asked for 40 percent for the Support Group 1, now (we get) 35 percent for the group,” he told reporters after the pay rise was announced by the Prime Minister at the Public Sector Workers’ Day 2007 gathering at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre, here. In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Cuepacs had asked for an increase in salary of between 10 and 40 per cent for civil servants depending on their grade and salary scale. The last time the government implemented a salary revision was in 1992. The increase announced today also included for members of the police and armed forces who would receive an additional increase of 20 percent on top of the percentage increase given to all public sector employees. Omar urged civil servants to make drastic changes in discharging their responsibilities with the objective of raising their productivity to the optimum. He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan had asked him to ensure that Cuepacs would play a role in changing the attitude of the civil servants to improve discipline, morals and image in providing service to the people. Beginning today, Omar hoped that public sector employees would carry out a drastic change in their respective career so that they would achieve excellence and provide quality service. He hoped that civil servants would make changes not only in terms of work quality but also in terms of image as they had been given a commensurate increase in salary. He called on government employees who were `moonlighting’ previously in order to meet the higher cost of living to stop such practices. He said Cuepacs would carry out a study to determine the number of civil servants doing part-time jobs and the reasons for doing so. On the request by Cuepacs that the retirement age for civil servants be extended to 60 and the abolition of the Competency Level Appraisal (PTK), he said these were still at the discussion stage. “I had asked the Prime Minister on the matter just now. There is an avenue for discussion from time to time, we will bring it up soon. There is no problem,” he said. Asked whether the salary increase was an indication that the general election was approaching, he said: “We don’t think about the general election. Our thoughts are to raise the living standards, image and productivity of the workers, to produce excellent workers who can face competition so that there is no complaint from the public.” He hoped businessmen would not exploit the salary increase to raise prices of goods. “If possible, set up the Price Control Commission, call on the non-government organisations to participate in the commission. If it’s just to monitor, we think it’s pointless,” he said. Meanwhile, the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) is convinced that the salary increase would not create any anomaly between the graduate and non-graduate teachers. “The NUTP is convinced that the graduate teachers would not suffer any setback from the difference in the percentage increase,” said its secretary general Lok Yim Pheng. — BERNAMA

We hope now the civil service productivity would increase and commensurate with the payrise received. There are so much to be desired how certain departments carry out their daily business and operations, especially when it directly involved the public.

The civil service should focus on the reduction bureaucracy to improve of service efficiency and a method reducing corrupt practices. Accountability is also another important area to be stressed on.

Efficient civil service would generate a more efficient economic activity and this would encourage economic growth. There would be a progressive economic cycle from there on.