Business News of Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Source: citinewsroom.com
2018-05-02
President Akufo-Addo waves some workers marching during the May Day celebrations
The government will soon review the single spine salary structure.
Speaking at the May Day Celebration in Kumasi on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said the review would take into consideration productivity, comparative salary standards in the private sector, and international salary standards among other factors.
He said a committee would be formed soon to look into recommendations to government on the way forward.
The President said the review has become necessary because he wants to establish a world-class labour force comparable to one anywhere in the world.
“As we seek to establish a world-class labour force comparable to any in the world, we must address the concerns of workers in the public sector over their remuneration. An inter-ministerial committee is being established by the Ministries of Employment and Labour Relations and Finance, to undertake the review of the single spine pay policy and make recommendations for implementation by government.”
He also explained that the review has become necessary because since the introduction of the pay policy in 2010 there has not been any significant review.
“Having operated with the policy since its inception in 2010, it is time to institute this review. The team is expected to do a thorough review of both public and private sector pay policies, not only in Ghana but across the globe to make informed recommendations for implementation. Productivity should be taken into consideration in the determination of remuneration for work done by employees in both the private and public sectors.”
President Akufo-Addo also advised public sector workers to adopt a positive attitude towards work.
“While we seek to review the remuneration, I continue to count on the Secretary-General [of TUC] to lead the campaign for change in attitude to work and increase productivity,” he added.
SSSS introduced in 2010 to ensure salary equity
Launched in 2010, the SSSS was to promote equity within the public sector by ensuring that public sector workers received equal salaries for equal work done.
Implementation of the policy experienced some setbacks during its initial stages as there was a lot of concern and agitation from public sector workers who complained about some disparities in the policy.
The issues were subsequently rectified.
Some analysts had earlier attributed the country’s expenditure overruns to the inefficiencies regarding implementation and management of the pay policy.
Public sector workers paid GHc14.4 billion in 2017
The public sector wage bill continues to be the biggest threat to government expenditure.
A recent analysis by the Graphic Business newspaper revealed that wages and salaries for public sector employees consume almost half of all taxes collected every year.
The newspaper reported that in 2017, about GHc14.4 billion was paid to some 650,000 workers.