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🇬🇭 Ghana /Economy & Trade

Fair Wages pushes for Independent Public Emolument Commission to end wage disparities

From Daily Graphic · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Ghana's Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is proposing the establishment of an Independent Public Emoluments Commission to replace the current pay system.
  • The proposed commission aims to create a fair, transparent, and fiscally sustainable compensation system for the public sector, addressing challenges faced under the Single Spine Pay Policy.
  • Organized labor groups have pledged support and committed to actively participate in the development of the new pay body, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and inclusive approach.

Ghana is moving towards a new public sector compensation governance model with the proposed Independent Public Emoluments Commission (IPEC). The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) is actively engaging with Organised Labour to gather input for the IPEC Bill, which aims to repeal Act 737 and resolve long-standing pay challenges.

IPEC should represent the next generation of public compensation governance.

— Dr George Smith-GrahamSpeaking at a stakeholder engagement on plans to replace the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission with the proposed Independent Public Emoluments Commission.

FWSC Chief Executive Dr. George Smith-Graham stressed that the IPEC must be more than a symbolic change, representing a "next generation" of public compensation governance. He acknowledged the difficulties encountered under the Single Spine Pay Policy and emphasized the need for a system that commands legitimacy by understanding and addressing differences, rather than manufacturing consensus. "Our purpose is not to manufacture consensus. It is to understand differences and build a system that commands legitimacy," he stated.

Our purpose is not to manufacture consensus. It is to understand differences and build a system that commands legitimacy.

— Dr George Smith-GrahamExplaining the FWSC's approach to developing the new pay body.

Organised Labour, represented by over 50 groups including the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), has pledged support for the initiative. Joshua Ansah, Secretary-General of the TUC, assured active participation but urged the government to ensure continuous involvement of labor groups throughout the process. "Government needs Organised Labour. We do not want you to see yourselves as merely invited to comment on somebody else’s Bill," Dr. Smith-Graham told the labor representatives.

Government needs Organised Labour. We do not want you to see yourselves as merely invited to comment on somebody else’s Bill.

— Dr George Smith-GrahamAssuring labor groups of their integral role in the reform process.

Ansah cautioned against a "half-hearted" or "piecemeal" approach, advocating for a holistic reform that benefits all public sector workers equally. He stressed the importance of a comprehensive process from beginning to end to ensure the new framework's success and ownership. The new compensation architecture is intended to be a long-lasting system, built with the future of the public service in mind.

We must have people who start the process from the beginning and end it properly, not start halfway through only to tell a different story. If that happens, our presence here has no meaning.

— Joshua AnsahUrging a comprehensive and inclusive approach to the public sector pay reforms.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Daily Graphic. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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