Pay and benefit development management

Public Service Engagement Forum

INTRODUCING the PSC’s Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency. IN our last article, we discussed the Strategic Planning and Programme Management Agency. This article focuses on the Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency.

The Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency is responsible for ensuring that Government workers are remunerated fairly, according to their position, qualifications and experience, and within the budget set aside for employment costs. Apart from salaries and allowances, the Agency also looks for other ways to reward Government workers. The same Agency also deals with pensions, collecting pension contributions from active employees, and paying out pensions to those who have retired.

The Pay and Benefits Development and Management Agency has three departments, namely, Rewards and Benefits Development and Management; Payroll Management; and Pensions Management.

Rewards and Benefits Development and Management

This department studies the best ways to combine salaries and allowances with other benefits that do not come in the form of money. These are called non-monetary benefits, and include such things as affordable housing, transport, training opportunities, study loans, duty-free importation of motor vehicles and so on.

People with certain skills are difficult to find, and a way has to be found to interest them in working for Government, and for them not to be tempted to leave to receive better pay outside Government. The budget created to make it possible to pay such workers in a way that will make them stay is called the Skills Attraction and Retention Fund. It is the Rewards and Benefits Development and Management department that manages the details of the fund, and makes recommendations on which skilled workers should be supported by it.

The department works closely with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to help it to produce recommendations that can be supported by the budget.

Some of the non-monetary benefits which the Rewards and Benefits Development and Management Department has worked on in recent years include the Public Service Housing Scheme, the Solar Energy Initiative, which is expected to be rolled out soon, and the recently introduced Government Employees Mutual Savings (GEMS) Fund, which provides access to low cost loans at interest rates as low as 10 percent per annum for emergencies, home improvement and various other projects. Government made a commitment to support GEMS by injecting ZWL 200 million, of which ZWL 75 million has already been provided.

In July 2019, Government introduced a rebate of duty on vehicles imported by civil servants who have served for at least 10 years. Quite a number of Government workers have benefited from this scheme. Government also helps its employees in times of bereavement by way of a Funeral Assistance facility which was reviewed in 2020 from RTGs $700 to the equivalent of US$500.

To provide civil servants with cheap transport to and from work, the Public Service Commission at present has 94 buses in all provinces. The fares civil servants pay are way below those charged by private transporters. More of these buses are on the way to cover both urban and rural routes.

Government values the health and wellness of its employees, and pays 80 percent of the monthly amount paid for approved medical cover for its employees, who pay the remaining 20 percent.

Payroll Management

This department manages the Government payroll system, which means salaries and wages of Government workers are processed here. It is here that the systems that ensure that the correct amounts are paid to workers are programmed, operated and maintained. When salaries change due to the promotion of workers or due to general pay raises, the department re-programs the systems to agree with the new figures. It also makes deductions from the salaries of those workers who arrange for loans, fees and contributions to be paid from their salaries.

Pensions Management

The Pensions Management department has the job of paying out pensions to workers who have retired from pensionable service. This means the department must know when workers are going to retire, and make calculations that ensure that those workers will be paid the right amounts of pension when they go into retirement. The rules to follow in doing this are in the Pensions Act and in Pension Regulations, and the department studies and follows those rules.

Pensioners and other members of the public have questions about pensions, and one of the activities that keep the department busy is giving answers to those questions. Sometimes, especially when a pensioner passes on and families argue over amounts that continue to be paid out to members left behind, the department has the duty to provide accurate information for use in courts of law. On normal days, however, the questions are about pension paydays, the amounts being paid or the increments pensioners will receive when there are salary adjustments for serving members.

The continuous improvement of conditions of service for civil servants is a top priority for Government, which explains why the need for a specific Agency to focus on that area was seen.

Our next article will focus on the Legal, Corporate Affairs and Protocol Agency and will explain how this Agency works hand in hand with all the other agencies in the Public Service Commission Secretariat.

This article is part of a series of articles by the Public Service Commission aimed at engaging with and updating the public on matters of public interest that fall within its mandate.

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