Teachers, Civil Servants’ Salaries Protected as SRC’s Proposed Law is Quashed by Parliament
On Wednesday, civil servants scored a victory against the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) after Parliament quashed a proposed law that would have given the agency powers to cut their pay and allowances.
The SRC had caused anxiety within the government by promising to abolish some allowances, with top civil servants, some earning layered allowances, likely to be the most affected.
However, key government agencies including the Public Service Commission and the Parliamentary Service Commission sent petitions to the House rubbishing the proposal as illegal, which led to the rejection of the regulations.
The SRC sought to be the only agency mandated to approve collective bargaining agreements reached between civil servants and their unions. It also intended to set and review the pension of civil servants.
However, in their memorandums to Parliament, the Public Service Commission argued that the SRC sought to give itself powers to deal directly with ministries, state departments, agencies and universities, all of which fall within the mandate of the PSC.
The central argument was that the SRC role is limited to reviewing and setting the salaries of state officers, which include the president, deputy president, MPs, CSs, PSs, MCAs, judges, and magistrates, among others.
The SRC regulations were rejected by the Delegated Legislation committee of the National Assembly, which said that the commission did not conduct proper public participation.
The committee resolved to recommend to the House not to approve the publication of the Draft Salaries and Remuneration Commission (Remuneration and Statutory Benefits of State and Other Public Officers) Regulations, 2022, for failing to conduct public participation as required by the Constitution and Statutory Instruments Act and for contravening the provisions of the SRC Act, 2011.
The Public Service Commission argued that the regulations were unconstitutional “to the extent that they vest job and performance evaluation on the SRC and not the employer".
On the need for prior CBA consultations, the Public Service Commission said the rule “derogates the powers of the public service employers.” The PSC further argued that the way the SRC defined ‘benefits’ and ‘state body’ in the regulations gave it powers to deal directly with ministries, state departments, agencies, and universities.
“The power to deal directly with the MDAs and public universities falls within the mandate of the Public Service Commission,” the agency said.
Parliamentarians said the SRC, as in the past, overstepped its mandate of setting remuneration and benefits for state officers. The commission in charge of MPs’ welfare further criticized the commission for giving itself powers to regulate facilitation allowances such as mileage and per diem.
“The regulation of facilitation allowances by the SRC interferes with the responsibility of the PSC to provide facilitation of MPs to undertake their constitutional mandate,” the House bosses said.
It added that state agencies are not required to obtain the approval of the SRC when it sets benefits for public officers. Judges argued that the Constitution gives the Judicial Service Commission exclusive powers to review and recommend conditions of service for judges and judicial officers.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) said the rules could have irregularly granted the SRC the mandate to advise on the internal managerial prerogatives of employers.
“The SRC seeks to unlawfully usurp the mandate of the public service employers. by irregularly granting the commission the mandate to advise on internal managerial prerogatives of the public service employers,” the Nancy Macharia-led entity told MPs.
“The term ‘benefits’ in the regulations is ultra vires for encompassing non-financial compensation which exceeds the mandate of the SRC,” the TSC said.
The SRC said the Draft Salaries and Remuneration Commission (Remuneration and Benefits of State and other Public Officers) Regulations, 2022, were to help
Teachers, Civil Servants’ Salaries Protected as SRC’s Proposed Law is Quashed by Parliament
