Govt forms 6-minister committee to address employees’ pay and allowance discrepancies

The government has taken steps to address discrepancies that have arisen over the order of pay grades, promotions and higher grades in the new pay structure for government officials and employees.

It has formed a six-member cabinet committee to review the complaints and recommend measures, including the reorganisation of pay grades, the introduction of new risk allowances and changes to existing allowance rates.

The committee, chaired by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, has been formally named the ‘Committee for reviewing issues relating to the fixation, expansion and revision of employees’ pay grades and allowances’.

The committee will make recommendations on raising or lowering the pay grades of certain posts, ensuring consistency among different grades and introducing new allowances. The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification on the matter on 2 November.

The other members of the committee are Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, and State Minister for Public Administration and Food Md Abdul Bari.

According to the notification, the committee will examine complaints received from employees and make the necessary recommendations for their resolution.

It will be assisted by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister ABM Abdus Sattar, Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Majumder and Public Administration Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury. Secretaries of the relevant ministries and divisions will also provide assistance.

The Finance Division will provide secretarial support to the newly formed committee. The committee may include additional members if necessary. However, no deadline has been set for submitting its recommendations, and no timeframe has been announced for their implementation.

Government officials and employees therefore believe they will have to wait longer for the discrepancies in the pay structure to be resolved.

Employees in various posts and professions in government service have expressed dissatisfaction with their pay grades. They allege that some employees receive different pay grades despite performing similar duties, that grades do not correspond to the status of their positions, and that financial benefits decrease after promotion.

These discrepancies have become more apparent during the implementation of the new pay structure.

Employees from various offices, including the Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, have raised questions about these issues.

Citing inconsistencies in seniority, the order of pay grades, higher grades and the fixation of house rent allowances, they recently submitted applications to Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Majumder.

The applications cite examples of these discrepancies. One inconsistency in the new pay structure concerns the fixation of salaries for employees in grades 11 and 12.

Under the new structure, the starting basic salary for grade 11 is Tk 25,000, while for grade 12 it is Tk 24,300. Although grade 11 has a higher starting salary, the situation is reversed after the previous pay adjustments are taken into account.

An official explained the calculations to Prothom Alo. He said that as of 30 June, an employee in grade 11 had a basic salary of Tk 23,660. Under the previous structure, his salary had increased by Tk 11,160.

Adding this increase to the starting salary under the new structure brings the total to Tk 36,160. However, as there is no corresponding step for this amount in the new structure, his basic salary is set at Tk 37,000, the next step up.

The official added that an employee in grade 12 had a basic salary of Tk 23,580 at the same time. Under the previous structure, his salary had increased by Tk 12,280.

Under the new structure, the calculation comes to Tk 36,580. However, his basic salary is set at Tk 37,700, the next step up. As a result, the grade 12 employee receives Tk 700 more in basic salary than the grade 11 employee.

Another complaint from employees is that some may see their total income decrease after promotion. According to an example they provided, an employee in grade 10 has a basic salary of Tk 49,700. After being promoted to grade 9, the basic salary increases to Tk 51,000.

However, the rate of house rent allowance falls from 50 per cent to 45 per cent in the new grade, reducing the amount they receive. Previously, an employee in grade 10 received Tk 24,850 as house rent allowance. After promotion, this falls to Tk 22,950.

As a result, the employee’s combined income from basic salary and house rent allowance would decrease by Tk 600 after promotion.

Employees have also expressed dissatisfaction over higher grades. They allege that awarding higher grades based on completing a specified period of service brings the salaries of some senior and junior employees closer together.

In some cases, a junior employee may even end up earning more than a senior colleague.

The terms of reference of the six-member cabinet committee cover not only resolving discrepancies in pay grades but also upgrading or downgrading the grades of various posts and ensuring consistency between grades.

The committee will also be able to recommend introducing new risk and other allowances, as well as increasing or reducing the rates of existing allowances.

In other words, the committee’s terms of reference provide an opportunity to consider introducing new allowances for government employees engaged in hazardous duties. It will also be able to recommend revising the rates of various existing allowances.

The gazette notification on the new pay structure was issued on 17 September. Government employees were given until 25 October, from 5 October, to have their salaries fixed under the new structure. Those who completed the process during that 20-day period received higher salaries on 1 November, including arrears calculated under the new structure from July.

The government’s Integrated Budget and Accounting System (iBAS++) was used for this purpose. However, alongside technical difficulties in fixing salaries, some provisions of the gazette also required clarification.

An official from the Finance Division, speaking on condition of anonymity said, “A similar committee was formed after the 2015 pay structure was introduced. However, that committee was unable to make any contributions to resolving the complications at the time.”

“I hope this six-member ministerial committee will play a genuinely effective role in addressing the discrepancies this time,” he added.