MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) today announced plans for a new round of compensation adjustments that would raise the basic salaries and benefits of the 1.53 million government workers by up to 45 percent. The proposed pay hike shall be implemented in four tranches over four years starting January 2016 and, upon full implementation, will bring the compensation of all government workers to at least 70 percent of market rate.
The proposed compensation plan is composed of across the board salary increase plus a mid-year bonus equivalent to one month basic salary and the new Performance-based Bonus (PBB) as an added bonus contingent on performance. The mid-year bonus, in addition to the present year-end bonus or 13th month pay, will account for an 8 percent increase in annual salary. The PBB is equivalent to 1 to 2 months basic salary or an 8 to 16 percent increase depending on the position.
“It is about time for another round of increase. Joint Resolution No. 4, which mandates the review of compensation every three years, was fully implemented in 2012. From then until 2015, the purchasing power of the pay of government workers has been eroded due to inflation,” Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said in a press conference.
The review of the public sector compensation and benefits is mandated by Joint Resolution No. 4, or Salary Standardization 3 (SSL 3), which states that “a periodic review of the government’s Compensation and Position Classification System shall be conducted every three years.” This is to take into account the competitiveness of salaries relative to the private sector, adjust salaries for the inflation rate and consider changes in skills, expertise, and competency requirements of the bureaucracy.
The budget chief said that the proposed salary adjustments or SSL 2015 shall be implemented based on the following principles: fair and reasonable compensation based on fiscal realities; competitiveness of pay in relation to the private sector; strengthening the link between pay and performance by enhancing the performance-based incentive system; and tempering the cost impact of the compensation increase to allow for higher take home pay.
“Higher salaries help attract and retain critical talent. We want to attract the best and brightest managers and executives to join and stay in government. More than a proposal for a salary increase, SSL 4 is an advocacy to further improve government service. With competitive compensation, we intend to bolster the recruitment of agencies that need to fill up vacancies in senior technical and middle management positions,” Abad said.
He added that government agencies have been having difficulty in recruiting and retaining senior technical staff/middle managers.
According to DBM data, the number of unfilled positions in government is 191,988 or 12.53 percent of total authorized positions. Agencies with the highest number of unfilled positions include the Ombudsman, Commission on Audit (COA), Department of Agriculture, (DA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Abad said the plan is to implement the SSL 2015 effective January 1, 2016. However, the constitution provides that incumbent Senators and members of Congress approving compensation increases, as well as the President and Vice-President, shall not benefit from the proposed compensation adjustment. The implementation of the proposed compensation adjustment with respect to these officials, including the regular members of the Cabinet, shall be effective July 1, 2016.
Proposed SSL 2015 to raise salaries and benefits by up to 45%; Compensation of all personnel to reach at least 70% of market rates
