New Pay Policy to challenge human resource departments

Ho, July 10, GNA - The new public sector pay policy could stretch the capacities of the human resource departments of public sector institutions to their limits, a trade unionist observed in Ho on Friday.

Mr Gordon Bodza, Volta Regional Industrial Relations Officer of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), therefore suggested that institutions in the public sector must liaise with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to give relevant officers some training.

He said the new policy had effectively moved salaries administration from the arena of qualification and date of employment into that of a complex mix of production indices in determining wages and salaries.

Mr Bodza said human resource departments must brace up to the work of explaining those indices that placed them on the various salary scales to their workers based on facts and figures.

He said managements would have to readjust and refocus their human resource departments to fall in tune with modern strategic management styles to meet the challenge.

Mr Bodza said all decisions must be transparent, defensible and justifiable to prevent agitations that could distort the policy.

He said the new system would therefore need people with high professional competencies and integrity to manage it.

Regarding the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG's) contention on the scheme as unfair to their members, Mr Bodza said that the Association's stand was unclear.

He said he was aware that CLOGSAG's concern about inappropriate evaluations had been addressed and that the recent appeal for direct negotiations with government besides the joint labour negotiations team was strange.

Mr Maxwell Akoto-Mireku, Volta Regional Secretary of the TUC, said labour in general had no problem with the new scheme and would collaborate with FWSC to tackle the challenges.