Announcing ministerial pay increase when they are debating GST
hike in parliament.
Are they so confident that they will lose 2011 election so they are
giving themselves goodies before they vacate the premises they
occupied since 1959?
So which is which? GST goes up to fund pay increase, or Pay
increase because need to offset increased GST?
Seriously, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?????
Why is it that we normal, non-elistist simply don't understand what
good cause they are genuinely doing for the people?
Ministerial, civil service salaries expected to go up
No uniform revision this time; wages will also be more closely tied
to performance
By Zakir Hussain
THE pay of ministers and civil servants is expected to go up soon,
after the Government announces salary revisions next month.
But there will not be a 'uniform, across-the-board large revision'
for all 60,000 civil servants.
This is unlike 2000, when pay went up by an average of 13 per cent
across the board.
This time round, increases will depend on how far civil servants'
pay has lagged behind the private sector, said Defence Minister Teo
Chee Hean, who oversees civil service matters.
Services with pay lagging significantly behind the private sector
will get bigger adjustments, while those closer to the market will
get smaller ones, he said.
For example, pay in the Administrative Service has not been revised
since 2000 and has fallen sharply behind private sector salaries in
the past two years.
Such civil servants are likely to get bigger rises to keep pace
with the private sector.
Salaries of ministers, judges and statutory appointment-holders are
pegged to the Administrative Service salary structure, so their pay
is also expected to rise when the changes are announced.
Another important change is that salaries will be linked more
closely to performance.
Mr Teo disclosed these changes in Parliament yesterday following
questions from several MPs.
'As private sector wages rise, the wages of civil servants cannot
remain stagnant,' he said.
'We do not aim to lead private sector salaries, but we must keep
pace.
'If we are not responsive, we will lose our ability to recruit and
keep able people. This will do great harm to Singapore as we would
have lost one key advantage over other countries - a clean,
competent and effective civil service.'
Mr Teo said the public sector had felt the impact of the tightening
labour market. He made a similar point in November last year, when
he said salaries were likely to rise.
For example, more civil servants are resigning. The resignation
rate rose from 4.8 per cent in 2005 to 5.7 per cent last
year.
The problem is more severe in some services. The management
executive service for graduates saw resignations rise from 7.4 per
cent in 2005 to 10.6 per cent last year. At entry grade, the
resignation rate is 25 per cent.
While attrition rates in other services are not yet high, 'we
should not wait till these services are bleeding badly before we
move to retain and maintain competitiveness', said Mr Teo.
Ms Annie Yap, CEO of recruitment firm GMP, said salaries tend to be
higher in the private sector.
While starting wages in the public and private sectors are similar,
private sector salaries tend to be 10 to 20 per cent higher for top
wage earners, she said.
Mr Teo explained that the new salary structure will tie pay more
closely to performance, in line with private sector practice, where
about 25 per cent or more of pay depends on performance.
This is a good principle to follow, to 'reward deserving civil
servants and sustain a high-performance culture in the civil
service', said Mr Teo.
Asked how the civil service ensures good outcomes, he acknowledged
that it has no financial bottom line. But part of senior officers'
pay is linked to Gross Domestic Product growth.
'We feel that is also a good way of getting senior civil
servants...to focus on outcomes of that type,' he said.
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