Govt worries over workers' pay disparities
THE Federal Government has expressed concern over the widening gap in the remuneration of workers in the public and private sectors of the economy.
Inaugurating a relativity panel on wages, salaries and emoluments yesterday in Abuja, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Ufot Ekaette, said government was desirous of reducing the gap within each sub-sector.
Ekaette regretted that the gap between the wages of workers in some public service agencies and those in the civil service had been growing over time.
He said the idea was to ensure labour mobility within the economy as well as to enable agencies using the same kind of skills to remain fairly competitive in attracting personnel with skills.
"Government had taken a number of steps in the past to ensure a measure of comparability in the wages, salaries and emoluments payable to workers in the various sectors of the economy.
"Such pay comparability was expected to ensure that compensation for work on substantially equal value in each sub-sector would be relatively close," he said.
He also stated that the gap between the remuneration of workers in the public and private sectors or between sub-sectors ought not to be as wide as has been the case in the country.
The panel's terms of reference include to undertake a remuneration survey of the public and private sectors with a view to obtaining authentic data on wages.
It is also to establish standard relativity limits within each sub-sector in order to ensure that wide disparities in wages, salaries and allowances are minimised.
Ekaette explained that the panel is not established to increase or review wages of public servants but to advise government on pay relativity and how best to address it.
Responding on behalf of the panel, its chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Edozien, said the work of the panel is challenging and arduous.
"Establishing an acceptable basis to measure productivity levels of persons and groups, particularly in the public sector will not be easy but this task is at the heart of the work of the panel and its expected outcome.
"Ongoing reform measures such as deregulation and monetisation, however, should help to make remuneration packages between the public and the private sectors more objectively determinable and comparable," he said.
The panel has six months to submit its report.
