SRC Allowances: Allowances for all civil servants in Kenya have been capped at 40 per cent of their basic pay. This is according to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, which has instructed that these changes take effect from July 2022.
According to the SRC chairperson Lyn Mengich, this move is aimed at putting a ceiling on the ballooning wage bill which currently stands at Sh. 820 billion. Once the new rule is enforced, taxpayers will no longer foot water and electricity bills for civil servants as well as other ‘unnecessary’ allowances, as part of the efforts to achieve the 40 per cent cap.
Allowances paid to civil servants for attending a retreat or for participating in a conference away from their work stations have also been abolished.
“There shall be streamlining of allowances to progressively achieve a proportion of basic salary to the gross salary that is no less than 60 per cent,” SRC said. “Allowances whose rationale for payment is redundant and or overlaps with that of the basic salary shall be abolished.”
According to the SRC, the new cuts will ensure that basic salary accounts for not less than 60 per cent of the gross monthly pay. This will be a shift from the current unregulated model where allowances account for up to 259 percent of the monthly take-home for public servants.
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Quarter per diem, paid to officers when out of the country will also be affected together with areas designated as hardship postings, and non-practicing allowances for judges and health workers.