Excess pay to be returned

Top Govt men oblige under new SSM

PUTRAJAYA: Top tier civil servants who received their new monthly salaries before the Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) was scrapped have agreed to return the excess amount.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan said the 36 employees under the Premier Service Category had agreed to return the amount now that the improved Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM) would be implemented instead.

“As responsible civil servants, they have agreed to return (the money).

“More than half of them have already returned the money while some have not done so as they are abroad,” Sidek told reporters after speaking at the inaugural Chief Secretary Annual Lecture series at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here yesterday.

Many civil servants had objected to the implementation of the SBPA, claiming it would only benefit top government servants, leaving the rest with paltry salary increases.

The scheme, which was to be implemented from Jan 1 this year, was scrapped on March 8 after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that this would be replaced with an improved version of the SSM following protests from civil service unions.

It was revealed that under the SBPA, the Chief Secretary would have drawn a salary of RM60,000 while those in the Premier Service category would get RM36,000.

Instead of a vast pay jump for top tier workers, the improved SSM is now expected to give all civil servants salary increases of between 7% and 13%.

On Monday, Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman said the commission set up to improve the SSM was expected to start work next month once the Government had decided on its composition.