SRC seeking to increase travel allowances for civil servants
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SRC seeking to increase travel allowances for civil servants attending official duties in towns outside Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru
SRC seeking to increase travel allowances for civil servants attending official duties in towns outside Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru.
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission is proposing a revision to the current system of determining daily travel allowances, which is based on the job group and the town being visited.
Currently, State officers traveling to Nairobi on official duty receive up to 67 percent more than those visiting towns outside cities and county headquarters.
The commission wants to do away with the current travel allowance rates, which have been in place since 2017, and replace them with new ones that will benefit State personnel who travel outside of Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru.
Civil servants whose assignments are outside of cities, county seat locations, Malindi, and Naivasha will see an increase in their daily local travel allowances of between Sh1,200 and Sh8,000 as a result of the changes.
The proposed increments will raise the minimum per diems for local travel by between 40 percent and 66.7 percent, depending on the job group.
The SRC has written to a number of State institutions, such as the Treasury, the Chief of Staff, and the Head of the Public Service, requesting their input on the suggested adjustments.
The proposal aims to update the rates for domestic travel outside of Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru while preserving the present travel allowances for overseas visits.
State officers in grade F4 are currently paid a KSh22,000 daily local travel allowance for trips to the four cities and Sh18,000 for trips to county headquarters, Malindi and Naivasha. They receive Sh14,000 for travel to the rest of the towns.
Under the SRC proposal, the flat rate for the top grade State officers and civil servants will be Sh22,000 — a 57 percent rise from Sh14,000 for officials whose assignments have been in towns outside cities, county headquarters, Malindi, and Naivasha.
The total wage bill hit Sh1.055 trillion in the 2021/22 financial year from Sh784 billion five years ago, to account for over 50 percent of the ordinary revenues.
SRC is proposing a uniform approach for other job groups by introducing a flat rate that is equal to the maximum allowances earned by State officers on official travel to the four cities.
The proposals include a 40 percent increase in the minimum daily domestic travel allowance, raising it by Sh1,200 to match the Sh4,200 earned by civil servants in job groups A to E for assignments in cities.
Under the proposed changes, civil servants in job groups U-V and State officers in grades F1, F2, and E5 will have their travel allowances harmonized to Sh18,200. This will result in a 45.6 percent increase for officers in these grades with assignments in towns outside cities, county headquarters, Malindi, and Naivasha.
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SRC is also seeking to standardize travel allowance rates at Sh16,800 for civil servants in job groups S-T and State officers in grades E3 and E4. This will result in a 60 percent increase for those who have been receiving the lowest allowances in this group.
Furthermore, civil servants in job groups P-R and State officers in grades E2, E1, and D5 will see their daily subsistence allowances rise from Sh8,400 to Sh14,000 for assignments in towns outside cities, county headquarters, and Malindi
Civil servants in job groups K-N and state officers in grade D4 will get a uniform rate of Sh11,200 for those on assignments outside cities.
The proposed harmonization will be extended to civil servants in job groups F-J, where the travel allowances will be set at the cities’ rate of Sh6,300.
In the proposals, Nairobi-based civil servants in job group K will now receive a KSh16,500 house allowance per month up, from Sh10,000.
Nairobi-based public officers in job group A — drivers, personal secretaries, cleaners, and messengers — will receive Sh3,750 a month, up from Sh3,000.
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