Some gov’t workers take home a pittance, COA finds

Government employees should not be taking home a pittance because of too many deductions from their monthly salaries, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

The COA reiterated a rule in the 2011 General Appropriations Act which states that authorized deductions are allowed provided they do not bring an employee’s net monthly pay to less than P3,000.

The COA made the assertion in its 2011 annual report on Aklan province, where it found that some regular employees took home less than P3,000–with one employee netting only P200—a month because of deductions for taxes, work and health insurance, and loans.

Authorized deductions are those for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Government Service Insurance System, PhilHealth, loan associations and cooperatives. Should the deductions bring the monthly pay to under P3,000, however, the deductions for the BIR, GSIS and PhilHealth would still be retained.

In response, the government of Aklan said its accounting office had adopted policies and internal controls in the issuance of certifications of net pay and in the processing of the payroll. One of this is a computer program that allows officials to monitor payroll deductions.