Bill to make SRC jobs full-time set for House scrutiny

Attorney-General Githu Muigai has tabled in Parliament amendments seeking to hand permanent jobs to some members of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), including its chairperson.

Prof Muigai is seeking to amend Section 4 (3) of the SRC Act of 2011 to allow the chairperson, Sarah Serem, and seven commissioners serve on a permanent basis.

The amendments are contained in the Statute Law (miscellaneous amendment) (No 2) 2012, which is now awaiting the action of the Committee of the House to become law.

“The members of the commission shall serve in the case of the chairperson and the members appointed under Article 230 (2) (b), on a full-time basis and in the case of the members appointed under Article 230 (2) (c) and (d), on a part time basis,” states the amendment in the Bill.

Members of the SRC appointed under Article 230(2)(b) mainly represent government institutions, namely the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC), the Judicial Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission, the National Police Service Commission, the Defence Council and the Senate, on behalf of the county governments.

It also has three representatives nominated by an umbrella bodies representing trade unions, employers and a joint forum of professional bodies as per Article 230(2) (c) of the constitution.

Under Article 230 (2)(d) the SRC also has three ex-officio slots for nominees by the Cabinet secretary, the Attorney-General and a person who has experience in the management of human resources in the public service, nominated by the Cabinet Secretary responsible for public service.

Prof Muigai’s move follows a petition by the SRC which cited a huge workload and strenuous work schedules as it moves to rationalise perks in the public service.

Ms Serem said the request for permanent jobs was justified by the fact they expected more than 100 proposals from state agencies seeking to review the remuneration of their employees in the New Year.

READ: Salaries team launches quest for full-time jobs

“We have a lot of work to finish by the time the next government is in place. We need to have commissioners who would be at work full time,” Ms Serem said.

The SRC is established under Article 230 of the constitution and has powers to set and regularly review the salaries and benefits of all public officers as identified in Article 260 of the constitution. Its mandate is to ensure that the total public compensation bill is fair and fiscally sustainable.

A section of commissioners representing umbrella bodies of trade unions, employers and a joint forum of professional bodies have, however, rejected the planned changes, terming them “unprocedural”

The Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) and the Federation of Professionals East Africa (FPEA) who serve as members under Section 230 (2) (C) said the proposed amendment would make their representatives irrelevant in decision-making. Half of the commissioners form the quorum for meetings.

They also said the amendment would trigger a conflict of roles between the commissioners and the secretariat of the SRC and proposed that it continues carrying out its functions through committees.

Wednesday, the commission began recruiting experts who would design new job grades and pay packages for public officers. The commission is seeking to hire five analysts to conduct comparative studies of remuneration and benefits for public officers.

The team would be required to evaluate existing and proposed remuneration packages, classify them according to their levels of responsibility and importance, the SRC said.

The analysts are expected to build on the recommendations of a job grade report by a consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) that was picked to prepare a single handbook besides detailed rationalisation of new job grades but not salaries.

It is also expected to consolidate the findings of another consultancy that would evaluate and grade all teachers, parastatals and civil servants pay and grades before these can be harmonised.

The commission earlier this year released new rules on pay negotiations that shield it from talking directly to representatives of unionisable state employees – effectively changing the way trade unions have traditionally dealt with employers.