PETALING JAYA: Cuepacs is happy with initiatives by the government for civil servants in Budget 2022 but wants the promises to be carried out quickly.
Cuepacs president Adnan Mat said every allocation announced should have already been studied in detail before being tabled.
When tabling Budget 2022, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that a total of 1.3 million civil servants in Grade 56 and below would receive a one-off special financial assistance of RM700 as a token of appreciation for their contributions.
Zafrul also announced that the cash award in lieu of leave (GCR) will also be increased to 160 days from the current 150 days in appreciation of the sacrifices made by civil servants, especially the frontliners, who had been working tirelessly and not been able to take leave during the pandemic.
Adnan said the government had already announced early redemption of accumulated leave by up to 50% or 80 days in Budget 2020, but this had not been implemented until now.
“We hope it will be implemented immediately,” he said.
Adnan also said he hoped the doors would remain open for negotiations on several issues, adding that the government seems to have closed the door on talks.
He hoped the government would be ready for talks on improvements that could be done such as the civil service pension scheme that has been in use since November 2002, as well as a new minimum wage that is suitable for the current economic climate.
“The review of the system and minimum wage is in line with the government’s wish to increase the average household income to RM10,000 a month by 2025,” he said.
“We hope the government will also reconsider our suggestion to have a new civil service pension scheme to motivate the 1.6 million public servants in the country,” he said.
“The government is the employer and the difficulty to negotiate causes problems.”