House approves salary increase of 1.53 million state employees

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The Batasan Pambansa complex hosts the Philippine House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on Wednesday the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) for 1.53 million state workers. The measure, House Bill No. 6268, provides the compensation package composed of a salary increase, a mid-year 14th month pay, and an enhanced performance-based bonus (PBB) system.

On top of the 14th month pay, the average lowest increase in the first year of implementation is almost PhP500 monthly under Salary Grade 1 or from the present P9,000 to P9,478 during the first year and will reach P11,068 in the fourth year.

In the first year of implementation, the President’s salary is raised to P160,924 and to almost P400,000 in the fourth year under Salary Grade 33.

The bill seeks to increase the basic salary of covered employees on the average by 27 percent, while the 14th month pay will further raise compensation by eight percent. The enhanced PBB is equivalent to one to two months’ salary or an average 10% increase in salary.

Government personnel who play a greater role and carry a heavier responsibility in improving government performance, will receive a higher bonus.

The lowest salary grade, Salary Grade 1 will be about 154 percent of the market, while the highest, Salary Grade 33, which is for the President, will be about 70% of the market.”

The structuring of the compensation adjustment is guided by five parameters: (1) The minimum basic salary— Salary Grade 1 — shall be raised from PhP9,000 to PhP11,068 a month; (2) To attract and retain competent and committed personnel, the new compensation level for all salary grades shall be at least 70 percent of the market; (3) To recognize differences in duties and responsibilities, there shall be no salary overlaps;

(4) The link between pay and performance shall be strengthened, especially for those in the higher salary grades; and (5) The structure of the adjustment should temper the cost of benefits (i.e. GSIS premiums and PhilHealth contributions) and allow for higher take-home pay, especially for those in the lower salary grades.

The first tranche of the adjustment will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016, and the subsequent three tranches on every Jan. 1st until the final tranche in 2019.

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