The Job Evaluation and Civil Service Remuneration Guideline will be amended to expand the definition of scarce skills to facilitate the inclusion of the payment of retention allowance for skill sets that exist in competitive markets for high performing civil servants.
Work on this will be finalised soon and subsequently announced.
The suspension of the payment of Maritime Location Allowance was lifted while a review of Rural Allowances was to be undertaken.
The review has since been completed and from 1 August 2022, Rural Allowances will be reinstated for eligible civil servants at standardised rates across Ministries and Departments.
From 1st August 2022, school based teaching staff will be allowed three days of annual personal leave with the approval of their Heads of Schools and/or the Divisional Education Offices.
To align to international best practice, the amount of annual leave that can be carried into a new leave year within a valid contract period will raise from 10 to 12 days; depending on the operational context of the Department or Ministry, flexi hours may be considered by the respective Permanent Secrataries. With the government recognizing the high demand for nurses overseas especially in Australia and New Zealand which was evident by the high turnover experienced by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the Ministry of Health will work with the Fiji Nursing Council to identify additional specialised areas of nursing to allow the Ministry to remunerate these specialisations accordingly.
The payment of transport allowance will be prioritised for those in public health care nursing in rural areas.
Midwives have been a scarce skill in Fiji for some time with the government investing in higher salaries and increase training opportunities to ensure we have enough midwives in the country. Degree level teaching positions have been evaluated at Band F, similar to other positions across the civil service.
From 1st August 2022, teachers who are eligible to be on Band F, will transition to Step 3 of Band F. This will also apply to newer graduates with relevant qualifications. This is to allow for some consistency in the pay of teachers.
Teachers on Bands D & E on shorter term contracts will be provided with five-year contracts to allow them time to upgrade their qualifications so they can move up to higher bands and earn themselves a pay rise.
A new Customer Service Guideline was approved and circulated to all Ministries and Departments earlier this month for implementation.
As part of the implementation, a customer service has been launched with a feedback line.
The 157 toll-free number now allows anyone in Fiji to provide feedback or submit a complaint related to customer services they have received at any government ministry or department and will also serve as a feedback loop that will contribute to the performance assessments of staff, and of the respective Ministries and Departments. The feedback received on the toll-free number will inform an announcement next year of the Top 5 service-driven ministries and departments.
Meanwhile the government will be restoring the ten percent pay cut that was asked of all the Permanent Secretaries throughout the pandemic and any voluntary pay cuts taken by the Heads of government funded agencies from 1 August 2022.
Ministers, Assistant Ministers, and MPs will remain on 25 percent reduced pay.
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