A year ago
According to a preliminary monitoring report on 58 institutions, which was made public by the Fair Wages and Income Commission (FWSC), roughly 22% of their salary bill is believed to be made up of undeserved income.
This development came about as a result of a continuous countrywide payroll monitoring effort to eliminate fraud and abnormalities in the public sector payroll.
The goal of the exercise is to prevent Ghana from losing an estimated $10 billion in unearned wages each year.
At a meeting with chief directors, coordinating directors, and human resource officers from the different organizations providing civil and local government services on the exercise, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) revealed this.
Benjamin Arthur, the Chief Executive Officer of the FWSC, stated that if the statistic reflected the total public sector, 22 Unearned salaries accounted for % of the pay bill.
What that indicates is that the 2022 wage bill was GH42.9 billion, or around GH10 billion, or 22% of it. This is significant since we pay undeserved wages equal to one-fourth of our wage bill despite the fact that we desperately need resources for other economic sectors, the speaker remarked.
The monitoring effort is a component of FWSC's role under the FWSC Act, 2007 (Act 737), which includes developing and overseeing benefits and allowances as well as coordinating, managing, and monitoring collective bargaining procedures where the government serves as the direct or indirect employer.
To ensure justice and equity in the pay administration is the exercise's main goal. as well as control the salary costs in the public sector.
other initiatives
According to Mr. Arthur, the program's success depends on the assistance of important stakeholders who will help the nation clean up its payroll.
He stated, "If we are able to save GH 10 billion annually, we can launch a housing scheme for public workers and reduce the housing deficit in the country. It would also improve remuneration for public workers by reducing the incidence of payroll fraud and related corruption cases.
For the experiment, ten teams made up of employees from FWSC and the Internal Audit Agency (IAA) were set up. Mr. Arthur disclosed that notifications regarding the exercise had been given to the various institutions.
They had to follow instructions to conduct internal audits and submit the results to the commission.
He said that this year's activities will focus on public administration, health care, and education.
He emphasized, however, that "if we are instructed by the President to add Article 71 office holders, we shall be glad to do so," even if the exercise will not include those who occupy positions covered by Article 71.
enhance cooperation
Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, asked the directors to cooperate with the FWSC to purge the nation's public payroll.
He had given the panel the responsibility of deepening discussions with other stakeholders and ensuring that they understood the exercise well to ensure maximum collaboration.
They had to follow instructions to conduct internal audits and submit the results to the commission.
He said that this year's activities will focus on public administration, health care, and education.
He emphasized, however, that "if we are instructed by the President to add Article 71 office holders, we shall be glad to do so," even if the exercise will not include those who occupy positions covered by Article 71.
enhance cooperation
Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, asked the directors to cooperate with the FWSC to purge the nation's public payroll.
He had given the panel the responsibility of deepening discussions with other stakeholders and ensuring that they understood the exercise well to ensure maximum collaboration.
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