FORUM ON SSPP HELD IN TAKORADI (PAGE 40, MARCH 29, 2010)

THE Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has organised a day’s road show/workers’ forum in Takoradi to educate workers in the public service on the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP).
More than 200 workers in the Western Region attended the forum, which was on the theme: “Equal pay for work of equal value”.
The SSPP is the broad pay policy framework which has elements such as the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), performance management system and productivity indicators, market premiums, allowances and inducements.
The SSSS is the salary component of the SSPP and has a 25-Level Grade Salary Structure.
At the forum, the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Mr George Smith-Graham, emphasised that it was not possible for the government to introduce a pay policy that would disadvantage workers.
He said if the previous and the current regimes had seen something good in the policy, then it could not be a disadvantage to public workers.
Mr Smith-Graham explained that the new pay policy would help attract and retain qualified personnel in the public service.
He also stated that it would help build a pay policy that was sustainable and ensure a unified salary structure, adding, “The new pay policy will not worsen the situation of any worker”.
Mr Smith-Graham said developing a pay policy that was sustainable and ensured that salaries were paid every month was very important.
“It is a policy that in the long run will benefit workers in the public service,” he added.
The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Busumtwi-Sam, said the government had found something good in the policy, which was introduced by the previous government, and had decided to continue to see to its implementation.
She urged the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to involve all stakeholders in its design and implementation.
Ms Busumtwi-Sam stated that over the years, several pay policies had been designed in the country but had not satisfied workers.
She, therefore, urged the commission to streamline a salary structure which would satisfy workers and help to reduce workers’ agitation and increase productivity.
She also called on the commission to ensure fairness and transparency in the implementation of the policy.
The Director of Pay Policy and Research of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Mr John Yaw Amankrah, in his presentation, said successive governments from the late 1960s instituted actions to reform the public service for improved service delivery, as well as improved pay.
He said the SSPP did not come out of the blue but an attempt to find a pay regime that would address inequities, disparities and distortions in the pay system and allow the government to manage the wage bill.
Mr Amankrah said the ultimate goal of the SSPP was to ensure equity, fairness and transparency in public service salary administration, as well as enhance performance and productivity.