Times Of Swaziland: PROPOSED PAY STRUCTURE: SOME CIVIL SERVANTS NOT HAPPY

PROPOSED PAY STRUCTURE: SOME CIVIL SERVANTS NOT HAPPY
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Stanley Khumalo on 23/02/2023 07:45:00


MANZINI – Some Principal Human Resource Officers believe the 2016 salary
review appeals report is flawed, as it will adjust their salaries by merely
E469.77.
The report on the 2016 salary review appeals was leaked on various social media
platforms, while it is still a subject of consultations between Public Sector
Unions (PSUs) of Swaziland and the employer. Following its circulation, some
civil servants have flooded this publication with queries and their supposed
appeals from 2016. Among the civil servants who raised concerns were the
principal human resource officers, who expressed their displeasure with the said
re-grading. They said their re-graded post was of less benefit to them given
that it would only afford them a difference of E469.77. This, they said, was
because most of them were on notch 5 of grade D4 while the regraded post is D5.
Assuming
They claimed that when assuming this post, they would still not benefit as the
difference between pay and Notch 1 of Grade D5 was the forementioned amount.
“We had appealed that we should be set at grade E4, given that our positions
are academic and also are not limited to one task,” one of the principal human
resource officers said. Another officer in this cadre said their job requirement
required academic qualifications, while they were remunerated similarly with
some officers who had an entry requirement of Form V and an experience of being
a former police officer.
The officer said they believed that their challenges were to be addressed by the
consultant; but seemingly, they were not and were continuing. The officer
wondered if this was the same principle used in the private sector or other
countries’ governments. “I believe the review was supposed to be done by a
consultant as the employer is conflicted and had assigned it to one in 2016,”
another officer said. On the other hand, some officers who were graded B5, which
has an annual salary of E112 340.04 or a monthly remuneration of E9 631.67 were
regraded to C3. This new grade has a monthly salary of E10 212.96 which equals
E122 555.58 per annum.
Calculation
This tallies to a review of about E581.30 per month on what they are currently
earning. This calculation is based on an employee who currently earns under
Notch 1. Officers who are in these grades and their positions were regraded
include cooperative officers and Cooperative auditors under the Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Trade. Their positions were said to have been reviewed
due to the scope of work and nature of their jobs.
Also in this grade are labour inspectors, assistant human resources officers,
and estate accounts examiner, clerk of court /interpreter and estate officer.
Meanwhile, the civil servants have made their feelings in various platforms with
some contacting this publication to express their displeasure in the regraded
posts.
Their reaction was subsequent to the publication of some of the grades which
have been reviewed upwards following about 145 appeals which were submitted by
the PSUs on behalf their members. The report, which came almost seven years
after the salary review was effected, was presented to the four PSUs a week ago.
The PSUs are: National Association of Public Servants and Allied Workers Union
(NAPSAWU), Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), Swaziland National
Association of Government Accounts Professionals (SNAGAP) and Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT).
Projections
The PSUs represent a fraction of civil servants who are about 42 686, according
to the Establishment Register for the financial year 2022/23 and are said to
cost the taxpayer around E7.3 billion as per projections of wage bill at the end
of the past financial year (March 31, 2022). Meanwhile, in 2016, when the salary
review report was effected, there were eight grades which SNAT appealed against.
The teachers union bemoaned that their members in these grades were made
worse-off.
These grades are: B2 Notch 1 which is that of PTD holders. There was also was an
appeal against grade C2 Notch 5, which is held by holders of primary teachers’
certificates. Another grade is C3 Notch 1, which is held by teachers who have
STDs, PTDs and BA in Humanities. Another grade that was appealed against was C4
Notch 1and also C5 Notch 1. Despite this, these grades did not form part of the
report as they were not listed in the report.