Government Employees to Earn More Travel Allowances
Government Employees to Earn More Travel Allowances. For State personnel traveling to official engagements outside of Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission is recommending raising the travel stipend.
Currently, State officers going to Nairobi receive up to 67% more than those going to communities outside of cities and county seats on official business.
In order to benefit State employees who travel outside of Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nakuru, the commission wants to replace the current travel allowance rates, which have been in force since 2017, with new ones.
The revisions will result in an increase in daily local travel allowances for government employees whose postings are outside of cities, county seats, Malindi, and Naivasha of between Sh1,200 and Sh8,000.
The planned increments will raise the minimum daily rates for local travel by between 40% and 66.70%, depending on the occupational group.
Daily Subsistence Allowance
Daily subsistence allowances (DSA) are payments made to public officials to help them carry out their official duties when they are away from their duty locations—both domestically and abroad.
SRC asserts that it has examined DSA rates in the public sector. It did so “in accordance with the mandate of the SRC, and in accordance with the principles set forth in Article 230(5) of the Constitution, and Section 12 of the SRC Act, 2011.”
According to the SRC plan, the highest level State executives and civil officials will be paid a set rate of Sh22,000, an increase of 57% over the Sh14,000 that staff assigned to county seat sites in Malindi and Naivasha are currently paid.
Over 50% of the regular receipts are made up of the total wage bill, which increased from Sh784 billion in the fiscal year 2012/13 to Sh1.055 trillion the following year.
By instituting a defined rate that is equal to the highest allowances received by State officers when serving in official capacity in the four locations, the SRC suggests a unified approach for other employment categories.
The suggestions call for an increase of Sh1,200, or 40%, in the minimum daily domestic travel stipend to equal the Sh4,200 paid to government employees for assignments in urban areas.
The amendments will set the travel allowance for government workers in job groups U to V as well as State officers in grades F1, F2, and E5 at Sh18,200 as a standard.
For state officers in grades E3 and E4 and public employees in job groups S to T, the SRC wants to standardize travel allowance rates at Sh16,800.
For people who have been receiving the lowest allowances in this group, this will result in a 60% increase.
Additionally, for assignments in towns outside of cities, county seats, and Malindi, the daily subsistence allowance for state officers in grades E2, E1, and D5 and civil servants in job groups P-R will rise from Sh8,400 to Sh14,000 per day.
For postings outside of cities, state officers in grade D4 and civil servants in job groups K to N would get a fixed salary of Sh11,200.
The anticipated harmonisation will also help civil servants in job groups F to J, with a flat Sh6,300 travel reimbursement cost to the cities.
According to the ideas, the monthly home allowance for employees in job group K who work in Nairobi will now be Sh16,500 rather than Sh10,000.
Drivers, personal secretaries, cleaners, and messengers will now receive Sh3,750 per month from public officers in Nairobi’s employment group A, an increase from Sh3,000.
The SRC plan will enhance civil servants’ travel reimbursements.