Standardisation of allowances must be made to work

The government and organised labour have agreed to standardise allowances to be enjoyed by public servants on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), which will ultimately help the government reduce its expenditure on allowances.

The agreement, which will take effect from January 1, 2016, proposes that all other allowances be standardised across the Public Service and the remainder of the 96 allowances that were not consolidated into the basic salary differentiated into categories two, three and four allowances.

In view of the agreement, public servants who, by their positions, have to be provided with accommodation, vehicles or househelps, are to be assisted to obtain the benefits, instead of what pertained in the past when a vehicle or accommodation was procured by the government for the person at the government’s expense.

The new arrangement looks like a very positive way of removing from the shoulders of the government the burden of providing everything