SSPA: Salary scheme, allowances make up over 60 per cent of proposals submitted

PUTRAJAYA - A total of 64 per cent of the 30,155 proposals submitted by civil servants under the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA) study relate to the salary structure, allowances and facilities for civil servants.

Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Datuk Dr Zulkapli Mohamed said proposals related to salaries and allowances had the highest percentage at 23 per cent, 18 per cent were about facilities for civil servants and 36 per cent related to services, performance and competence, career advancement, rewards and discipline.

He said a total of 15,495 respondents from various civil service schemes across the country participated in the SSPA Phase 1 study, which ran from July 26 to Aug 9, this year.

He said the proposal covered six groups, namely technical, health, education, security, management and science and technology.

"An interim report on the salary and allowance structure will be released and submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in September," he said.

"This interim report will serve as a reference for matters related to salaries and allowances to be included in the Madani budget to be tabled by the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister, in October this year," he told a press conference after attending an engagement session with the heads of the SSPA Study Group and ministry secretaries-general here today.

Today, Anwar announced that the government is trying to slightly raise the salaries of civil servants through the second Madani Budget that will be tabled in Parliament in October.

On July 14, the PSD issued a statement informing the government that it had agreed to review the civil service salary scheme taking into account the increase in the cost of living and the fact that there has been no salary review since 2012.

The SSPA study, which is expected to take almost two years, is a civil service reform initiative in line with the aspirations of ‘Membangun Malaysia Madani.’

On Aug 7, Anwar chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Service Reform (JKK-PPA) to discuss matters relating to the review of the SSPA. - BERNAMA