Disregard that fake document - Smith-Graham

Wa, Aug. 30, GNA - Mr. George Smith-Graham, Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, has advised public workers to ignore a document being circulated as the single spine salary structure because it was not authored by the Commission.

He pointed out that the new pay policy sought to remove all overlaps, especially from level 20 to 25 where there are a lot of allowances.

According to him, while the fake document had a salary range of about GHC15,000 for level 25, the official document of the commission had a salary range of between GHC23,000 and GHC26,000.

Mr. Smith-Graham was addressing a well-attended workers forum on the new pay policy, at Wa.

The forum was the last in a series of one-week sensitization programmes, embarked in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions by the Chief Executive Officer and his Technical directors.

They briefed public sector employees on the latest developments with regard to the implementation of the new comprehensive pay policy that had been designed for public sector workers.

Mr. Smith-Graham assured all public sector workers that the single spine pay policy was not being implemented for only year 2010 emphasizing that, "the single spine pay policy is not an event but a process starting from January 2010."

He said the new pay policy was of special significance to employees in the Northern Sector of the country as one of its key elements sought to pay special inducement allowances to public sector employees who accept postings to deprived areas, which most of them were likely to benefit.

He expressed concern about misinformation on the policy and assured the workers that "no worker will have his or her salary reduced even by a pesewa in the pay reform process.

"Government will not introduce a pay policy that will disadvantage public sector workers," he added.

The Chief Executive Officer told the workers that talks between CLOGSAG and the Commission had not broken down and the Commission with their stakeholders would resolve all issues and concerns before moving them unto the single spine.

The Commission is also compiling the necessary data in order to begin the process for the harmonization and standardization of all category two and three allowances.

He, therefore, appealed to managements, unions and associations to exercise restraint and cooperate with the commission in that regard as negotiations for these allowances and other conditions of service among various service classifications would begin very soon.

Mr. John Yaw Amankrah, Director of Pay Policy, Analysis and Research at the Commission, said the placement on the single spine grading structure was based on the results of job analysis and evaluation exercise as the basis for establishing equity as enshrined in Article 24 (1) of the 1992 Constitution.

The job evaluation exercise, he stated, provided an opportunity for the Police Service who was among the lowest paid in the country, with an average pay over negative 40 per cent below the median pay in the public sector, to determine the value of their jobs to be compensated equitably.

He advised public sector employees who were making mathematical comparisons to leave the Police alone and rather concentrate on the ongoing migration and mapping exercise.

Mr. Amankrah explained that the Commission decided to implement the SSSS for the Police first because they were the first public sector institution to complete the migration of their jobs unto the Single Spine grading structure.