Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman announced that the government is nearing completion of a comprehensive study on potential salary adjustments for government workers, with plans to finalize it by the first half of the year.
This collaborative effort, led by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), aims to design a competitive and equitable compensation package that aligns with the Administration's commitment to fostering a strong and forward-looking civil service.
“We recognize that the rising cost of the basic commodities and services in the country highlights the need to review the current state of compensation of government employees. It is for this reason that the DBM and the GCG engaged the services of a consultancy firm this year to conduct a Compensation and Benefits Study in the Public Sector with the end in view of setting a competitive, financially sustainable, and equitable compensation package for government personnel,” Pangandaman said.
“The proposed compensation adjustment should consider not only the inflation rates and cost of living adjustments but also standard market practices to ensure that working in government remains desirable and comparable to working in the private sector. Further, the additional costs must be within the government’s financial capacity to ensure its long-term viability, which shall be maintained at a realistic level in proportion to the overall expenditure of government,” she added.
Pangandaman said the ongoing Compensation and Benefits Study is examining various components of the current compensation system, covering salaries, benefits, and allowances, to pinpoint areas ripe for enhancement.
By leveraging benchmarks from the private sector and taking into account inflationary effects, she said the government is striving to establish a fair and sustainable pay structure that will elevate the well-being and productivity of its workforce.
Additionally, the DBM chief said that the study's outcomes will form the basis for enacting essential updates to the Total Compensation Framework (TCF) for civilian government personnel, ensuring that salary adjustments for government workers are both equitable and promptly implemented.
“Our civil servants are the backbone of our nation, and it’s our priority to provide them with a fair and motivating compensation system. This study marks a crucial step towards a civil service that is not only efficient and productive but also just and rewarding,” Pangandaman added.
“As we anticipate the completion of this pivotal compensation and benefit study, our resolve remains firm: to uphold the dignity of public service by ensuring our civil servants are rewarded in a manner that truly reflects their worth to the nation,” the Budget chief underscored.
The results of the study shall be used to refine/enhance the compensation of civilian government personnel to foster an environment that promotes social justice, integrity, efficiency, productivity, accountability, and excellence in the civil service while supporting fiscal prudence.
Such improvements/enhancements may be in the form of salary increases, adjustments in the rate of benefits and allowances, rationalization of benefits, and/or fine-tuning of the current Total Compensation Framework of the government.
The cost for the implementation of said compensation adjustment shall be sourced from the available appropriations under the FY 2024 General Appropriations and the succeeding annual appropriations.