They are in the management executive, management support, home uniformed and foreign service.

By Narendra Aggarwal
April 9, 2007
AsiaOne

Four groups of civil service officers, whose salaries have fallen behind the market, will get pay hikes of between 4 per cent to 16 per cent from this month.

They are in the management executive and management support schemes, and the home uniformed and foreign services, who make up almost one-third of the officers in the 60,000 strong civil service.

Junior officers in the home uniformed service will have their monthly pay up by 4 to 5 per cent, while graduate officers on the management executive scheme, who work across all ministries, will get a 16 per cent rise, with a 5 to 8 per cent adjustment from this month.

Minister in charge of civil service, Mr Teo Chee Hean said there was a need to "level up" the salaries of officers in the management executive scheme as they perform a wide range of jobs, including policy development and implementation, corporate services and operations work.

The minister said that a review of this scheme is being carried out to make it more attractive, both to fresh graduates, as well as to mid-career entrants to the Civil Service, and this will be completed in the second half of this year.

"There will be a second round of adjustment later this year when the review is completed. The form of the adjustment will depend on the findings of the review," said Minister Yeo.

Those in the management support and technical support schemes, which employ officers with diploma qualifications, will get a performance-based payment of 0.5 to one month. Good performers will receive up to 0.5 month, and the better ones, up to one month. There will be a further adjustment before the end of the year.

The Home Affairs Uniformed Services, comprising the Police, Prisons, Civil Defence and Narcotics services, are lagging their benchmarks by up to 26% in certain grades.

"As the gap is large, these services require major adjustments. These services are now dealing with more complex and hallenging tasks given the threat of terrorism and the increased security measures required. We need to pay our home team officers competitively, so that the uniformed services will be well-staffed, and able to address any emergency," said Mr Teo.

"The first step of this adjustment will be carried out now, amounting to 10-13%."

Senior officers in the Home Uniformed Services will receive a performance-based payment of 1 – 1.5 months, with the higher quantum going to better performers. Junior officers will also receive performance-based payments ranging between 0.75 to 1.5 months. In addition, to address the market pay gap, we will increase their monthly salaries by 4% - 5%.

Beyond pay increase, the Home Ministry would also be looking at other aspects to better attract and retain their officers.

"There will be more opportunities for junior officers to progress into the senior ranks. The Ministry is also streamlining its promotion and ranking process, and reviewing benefits and other terms, to make the Home Uniformed Services a more attractive career. After the review is completed, a second adjustment will be made later this year to close the remaining gap,'' said Mr Teo.

The Singapore Armed Forces will also making similar salary adjustments, he added. Foreign Service officers, who Mr Teo described as "a small but critical group of officers who promote and safeguard Singapore’s interests in the international arenas", will receive a market adjustment of 0.75 months.

In addition, the performance bonus structure has been revised to identify and reward the top performers better. Annual increments have also been increased and tied to performance.

Other adjustments include a revision of the monthly salaries at the entry grades and a revamp of the retention bonus framework.

On average, Foreign Service officers can expect an 8 per cent salary increase, the minister said.

narendra@sph.com.sg

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