Don’t pay workers as if you’re doing them favour - Austin Gamey to government

Labour Consultant, Austin Gamey has called for an efficient salary administration system capable of enhancing productivity at the workplace.

He argued that salaries that appear to be a token of favour from employers do not represent good salary administration.

His comment comes on the back of a report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) that indicates that 80% of public sector workers earn less than GH¢3000 monthly.

The report also reveals that although the maximum salary in the sector is GH¢33,000, the top 10% earners in the public sector earn a total of 22% of salaries paid by the government.

“80% of the public sector workers earn less than GH¢3,000. If you take every 5 employees, 4 out of them are earning less than GH¢3000. On the other hand, if you have disparities if your take home is on a minimum of GH¢418 relative to a maximum of GH¢33,000.

“Look at this rate, minimum GH¢418, maximum about GH¢33,000 and because 80% earn less than GH¢3,000 you get an average figure of GH¢2,594. Despite the conversation on earnings in politics, the first basic thing we do is put all of us in the public sector in groups of 10 in ascending order based on our earnings,”

Government statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim made this disclosure at the release of the 2022 report on Earnings Inequality in the Public Sector.

Commenting further on the report, the Labour Expert said the public sector must discard the notches system in salary administration and embrace what he calls the broadband salary structure that is flexible enough to navigate employees through it based on their productivity level.

“I think that we’re not managing our salary administration very well. In the public sector, we have an old system of salary structure such as notches system. These are old antediluvian type of salary structure. What we need is a broadband salary structure…” he said.