Salary hike for gov't workers takes effect as DBM OKs guidelines

MANILA – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced Monday that the guidelines for the salary increase of state workers have been approved and may now be implemented by government agencies and offices.

In a press conference, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said she has signed the National Budget Circular and Local Budget Circular that laid out the guidelines on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s Executive Order (EO) 64 which orders a four-tranche salary hike starting this year.

"Napirmahan na po natin ang National Budget Circular at Local Budget Circular, ipa-publish nalang po natin and then pwede na po. Yung Circulars po ito yung guidelines on how to compute yung mga adjustments in the salary (We have signed the National Budget Circular and Local Budget Circular, it will now be published and it can now be implemented. These circulars contain the guidelines for the computation of adjustment for the salary)," Pangandaman said.

"Pwede na po silang mag-adjust, agad-agad po. They can use their existing PS [Personnel Services budget] na meron sila ngayon. Whatever po ang kulang, yung po ang kukunin natin sa MPBF [Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund] (They can now adjust, as soon as possible. They can use their existing PS budget. Whatever is still needed, we will source that to the MPBF)," she added.

The coverage of the first tranche will start from Jan. 1, 2024 and will be given to state workers retroactively.

The DBM earlier shared that the additional cost of implementing the first tranche of SSL VI for national government employees in 2024 is estimated at approximately P36 billion.

Meanwhile, some P70 billion have been allocated in the P6.352-trillion budget for 2025 for the implementation of the second tranche next year.

Marcos' EO 64 grants a higher percentage of salary increase to professional (Salary Grade 11-24) and sub-professional (Salary Grade 1-10) government employees compared to the rate of increase for those in managerial, executive, and top leader positions, according to the DBM.

Under the first tranche, the average rate of salary increase from SG-1 to SG-31 will be 4.41%, bringing the compensation of government employees to 84.33% of the market.

For sub-professional level, the increase will be between 4% and 5.20%. The minimum basic salary (SG-1) will be adjusted from P13,000 to P13,530, resulting in a P530 increase.

At the professional level, the increase will range from 4.50% to 5.60%.

For the Managerial Level (SGs 25 to 28), the increase will be within 4.15% to 4.40%; while for the Executive Level (SGs 29 to 31), it will be from 2.65% to 3.90%; and for the Top Leaders (SGs 32 to 33), the increase will be within 2.35% to 2.40%.

Compared to Salary Standardization V, the proposed rate of increase under Salary Standardization VI will be slightly higher, as a leverage to increase the marketability of working for the government and engage high-performing personnel. (PNA)