FWSC to link payment of salaries and allowances to productivity

Public sector workers will soon be paid salaries and allowances based on the level of their productivity.

On Friday, January 13, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) Ing Ben Arthur said his office is going to partner with the Public Services Commission to be able to link payments of salaries and allowances to productivity.

He stated that although there is an already existing structure within the Public Services Commission that does that, the FWSC wants it done on a larger scale.

That is a long-term plan, he said.

Ing Ben Arthur said this when he was speaking in an interview with TV3’s Daniel Opoku on the 30 percent salary increment for public sector workers which was announced by Employment and Labour Minister Ignatius Baffuor-Awuah on Thursday, January 12.

He said “Why do you want to do payroll monitoring? Yes, we have had an agreement to determine some allowances here and there but what is its application out there? It is something we do but this one, we want to do it on a larger scale.

“There are some people who are deserving of some allowances but maybe, through administrative procedures and errors, it has not been extended to them. We want to be sure that that is given to them. There are equally others who do not deserve some allowances and may not have to even be on the payroll.

“So we want to collaborate with the respective state institutions to ensure that if you are a ghost worker then, you will have to belong to the cemetery of a payroll, not on the payroll itself. We will confine you to where dead people are kept.

“People have abandoned posts, they have left, there are people who might have retired who could be on certain payrolls, when we talk about payroll, it is not just the one at controller but some IGF-related employees as well.

“We want to collaborate with the necessary institutions and stakeholders to be able to do that. If we are able to clean the payroll very well, I can tell you we will be able to free space for those who are deserving of it to enjoy and enjoy well.”

“So this time, collaborating with public services commission, they are about to send notice to all public sector institutions under them to be able to set targets for the organizations and employees management.

“So that by the end of the year we should be able to measure each individual performance and be able to measure the score so that your movement on your pay structure will be informed by your performance,” he said.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta also made similar remarks when he was speaking on the 30 per cent salary increment.

This was after he admitted that the increment will have a toll on the budget. With enhanced productivity and commitment, he said, the government and labour would be able to ensure that the increment is done successfully.

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta said “As I mentioned this will take a toll on the budget, but we are confident that we would enhance productivity and the commitment that we both have given to each other to make sure that there  is peace in this country as we look at pension and labour issues. I think we have come to a satisfying conclusion.

“I really will like to thank all of you for your commitment to that. Fiscal implications, of course, we will have to work with that but really, the issue of a peaceful environment for us to work is something that we treasure, we really applaud you for that.

“There are a lot of things that we have to do and we really encourage that we continue  with this sense of unity going forward and if, as a people, we continue to speak the same language then there will be nothing that will be impossible for us to do.”