New pay deal comes with a revised structure that has moved the lowest paid civil servants in job groups A to C to job group D, where they will take home between Sh12,192 and Sh14,442.
Nairobi-based workers in this job group are also set to see their monthly house allowance rise from Sh3,000 to Sh3,750, even as their commuter allowance remains unchanged at Sh3,000.
Sicily Kariuki, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the Public Service, said the deal demonstrates the Jubilee government’s commitment to improved services to citizens.
Civil servants working for the national government will from July 1 get a pay rise of between 5.2 per cent and 30.7 per cent, kicking off the rollout of a deal their union struck with the government to improve their terms of service over four years.
The new pay deal comes with a revised structure that has moved the lowest paid civil servants in job groups A to C to job group D, where they will get a minimum and maximum salary raise of 17.46 per cent and 27.02 per cent and take home between Sh12,192 and Sh14,442 respectively.
Nairobi-based workers in this job group are also set to see their monthly house allowance rise from Sh3,000 to Sh3,750, even as their commuter allowance remains unchanged at Sh3,000.
Civil servants in job group N — the highest level covered in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the government and the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) — have won a minimum and maximum basic pay rise of 6.84 per cent and 24.34 per cent for a total take-home of Sh51,486 and Sh81,184 respectively.
The monthly house allowance for Nairobi-based workers in the job group has risen to Sh35,000 from Sh24,000 while their commuter allowance drops to Sh6,000 from Sh8,000.
Sicily Kariuki, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the Public Service, said the deal demonstrates the Jubilee government’s commitment to improved services to citizens.
“The CBA reflect our commitment to work together more closely towards a common goal, the pursuit of improved service delivery to the citizen and focuses on issues concerning productivity, positive and ethical work culture among others,” she said.
The Treasury had allocated Sh20 billion in the budget to implement the revised basic pay structure in the new fiscal year.
The CBA will be in force for four years starting July and has provisions for harmonisation of house allowance for workers in the same grade and working in different regions starting July 2018.
This is in line with reforms proposed by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) in an effort to bridge the huge wage disparities.
Under the new structure, civil servants with the same skills, qualifications and experience will be clustered in the same job group regardless of whether they are employees of the national government, county governments, constitutional commissions, State corporations or independent commissions.
The CBA will also see the introduction of new allowances, including health, nursing, and risk allowances for medical practitioners.
The higher perks to be enjoyed by civil servants starting July are part of a plan to raise their pay by some Sh100 billion over the next four years.
This marks the first pay increase for the entire civil service under the Jubilee administration. Its implementation close to the August 8 General Election is seen by some as a calculated move to win votes among public servants.
Raise wage bill
The pay raise is set to exacerbate the country’s large public sector wage bill which President Uhuru Kenyatta has decried in the past.
Standing at Sh627 billion annually, the public payroll gobbles up half of revenue collections and compensates 700,000 public officials who represent less than two per cent of the population.
The public wage bill is 17 per cent above the global average of 35 per cent for middle-income countries, a club that Kenya recently joined after recalculating its economic size.
The higher pay for civil servants means the government is betting on faster economic growth to support the increased expenditure.
Economic growth is, however, expected to remain sluggish in the short term on the effects of drought, reduced private sector lending and the uncertainty engendered by the forthcoming elections.
The economy expanded by 5.8 per cent last year but is forecast to grow by 5.5 per cent this year, according to the World Bank.
