In the National Assembly |13 April 2023

LDS members approve Public Service Salary (Amendment) Bill, 2023

The National Assembly yesterday afternoon approved the Public Service Salary (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which will be driven by a policy rather than by a legislation.

The bill was brought before the National Assembly by Vice-President Ahmed Afif. Twenty four members from the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) voted for the bill while nine members from the United Seychelles (US) abstained from voting. There was no vote against the bill.

Presenting the bill earlier in the morning, Vice-President Afif said the object of it is to amend the Public Service Salary Act, 2013 in order to sever the provisions for salary payable to public officers generally from the ambit of the Act, and retain only the salary payable to those occupying specified constitutional posts.

Upon the enactment of this Bill, the Public Service Salary Table shall continue to apply in respect of the officers occupying constitutional posts as specified under the Second Schedule until the salary review in relation to them is completed. For that reason, the definition of ‘public service’ has been amended to restrict the application of the Bill to those categories of officers.

With regard to the salary increase, Vice-President Afif said it will involve current basic salary in addition to certain allowances, namely supplementation allowance; marketable skills allowance; graduate allowance and public service commission performance allowance for total calculation of the 10% increase. In the event that the amount falls below R1,000 after the 10% increase, the worker will benefit from the said amount (R1,000) as it will be the standard minimum for increment at end of April.

He added that based on the new structure and policy, a new salary table has been put in place to look at salaries including that attached with a promotion in the public sector.

He noted that based on the 10% increase, the salary band could possibly change to reflect the increase. He added that the revision in salary increase will not apply to constitutional appointees and other government officers, which by law, their salaries are driven by the Public Service Salary Table Act.  

He added that the country’s ambassadors, whose salaries were not driven under the Public Service Salary Table Act, will be included under the Act.

The LDS members who spoke in favour of the bill said the time has come to look at the salaries of workers of the public sector for the time being and as the country’s economy improves, other working sectors will be looked into.

They said the bill, based on performance, is part of the government’s vision to help workers earn more money.

Leader of government business, Hon. Bernard Georges, said the bill is part and parcel of strategies by government for salary increase to be based on performance.

He added that is it formulated to encourage optimum service delivery, not only within the public sector but across the country as a whole.

He said the country is moving away from how things were done in the past where people were rewarded even though they did not perform.

Elected National Assembly member for Beau Vallon, Hon. John Hoareau, stated that the increase in salaries in the public sector clearly shows the current government’s commitment to care and to better the lives of the population.

He noted that at present, no countries in the world has, like ours, offered 10% increase in salaries to its public servants post Covid-19.

Elected member for Grand Anse Praslin, Wavel Woodcock, said despite the challenges the country is facing, the government has to start somewhere and when things get better it will trickle down to other sectors of the population amid other measures in place to safeguard its wellbeing.

For her part, elected member for Au Cap, Hon. Kelly Samynadin, said while it is the right of workers to benefit from a salary increase, however it also comes with a responsibility to ensure that productivity continues to take place in the workplace.

As contribution, the elected member for Mont Buxton, Gervais Henrie, said the bill is another step in the structural reform by the PSB (Public Service Bureau), which started in 2009 and it has to take place, so that we are on par with other countries in the world.

He noted that the bill is removing salary issues from the hands of politicians and putting them into the hands of trusted and independent technicians for better decision-making.

United Seychelles (US) members who spoke on the bill said they support a salary increase for the public service but the bill, however, has no connection with an increase in their salaries but rather to transform its legal status into an administrative one to protect constitutional appointees. 

US proportionate member, Hon. Wallace Cosgrow, said the bill has nothing to do with the increase in salaries for the public sector but rather to remove the government’s obligation to legally implement the increase and to pass it on to be administered by the Public Service Bureau to ensure that no oversights can take place.

He added that the bill is not to the benefit of other ordinary public servants as they will not see the real increase in salary given the way the formula for the increase has been drafted.

Elected member for Inner Islands, Rocky Uranie, said the bill has been rushed through, without taking into account the protection of the public servants given the fact that sections in the law that protect their rights for a decent salary, have been removed from them and placed in the hands of a few people.

US elected member for Baie St Anne Praslin, Churchill Gill, said he is not against the 10% increase in salary, but only wanted to know what is entailed in the policy and structure in place given that the information is not available for a constructive debate.

He noted that while most of the workers on the island of Praslin are in the private sector, government should start holding conversations with the sector to come to some conclusion for some benefit for that category of workers.

In his presentation, US proportionate member Hon. Johan Loze said the bill is only to protect the constitutional appointees rather than the public servants.

He noted that provision for the protection of salaries of the lower paid public servants has been removed, giving the opportunity to just widen the salary gap between the lower and those at the top.

Deliberating on some points in his concluding remarks, Vice-President Afif, who thanked all the members who supported the bill, said the amendment will help remove politics when dealing with salary issues.

He said as has been done in the past with the involvement of the National Assembly, the oversight on salary structure and policy will continue even though the bill will be administered by the PSB which is part of the executive.

He noted that apart from overtime allowance, all other allowances are subject to tax but based on the new amendment, public service workers will end up with more money in their pockets

Vice-President Afif made it clear that while public service sector employees will be benefiting from a salary increase, a reduction in electricity and fuel costs, among other measures in place, are contributing to get workers to make some savings.

He added that the amendment has also made it possible for lower income earners in the public sector to access higher loans from their respective banks.

He noted that the amendment for the salary grid was not an initiative of government but that of technicians who are well versed in the country’s salary structure and policy.

VP Afif stated that while he acknowledges that the private sector is doing a lot for its workers, he is however, encouraging the same sector to follow the initiative taken by government to increase salaries of their workers.

Leader of the opposition, Sebastien Pillay, did not form part of the discussion yesterday as he was banned for one session on the grounds of misconduct the day before.

Patrick Joubert