Bill seeks to allow adjustment of mid-level public employees’ pay

House ways and means committee chair Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua has filed a bill amending the Salary Standardization Law to allow government agency heads to pay the salaries of mid-level public employees to compete with private sector rates.

House Bill No. 6712 would empower the agency heads to approve a higher compensation than those set by the Salary Standardization Law for employees ranked from salary grades 21 to 29, which are granted to positions categorized as professional.

But such pay adjustments would be subject to the approval of the Civil Service Commission.

The pay adjustment should also not exceed salary grade 30, which covers high-ranking positions such as undersecretary, solicitor-general, court administrator, deputy ombudsman, Court of Appeals and Sandiganbayan associate justice, member of a constitutional commission, or presidents of state universities and colleges.

In his explanatory note, Cua said the bill was meant to “offer highly competent individuals and professional adequate compensation, in order to entice into joining the public service for purposes of attaining better public service.”

Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua (Photo from the House of Representatives website)

Giving the agency heads the power to adjust the benchmarking of the position schedules would “level the playing field and give the government the leeway to select, engage and retain highly competent individuals and professionals.”

In February 2017, Cua, along with House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, filed a bill seeking to exempt the Bureau of Internal Revenue from coverage by the Salary Standardization Law similarly to make the pay competitive with the private sector and eliminate corruption. /atm