Government Employee Benefits — Salary and Salary Increase

You may be someone who is interested in knowing the benefits of a government employee; either because you are a new government employee or you are planning to apply for a job in the government — that’s why you bumped into this post.

Well, you are in the right place for this purpose. In this post, we will explain the basics about the salary and pay raise of government employees.

Just like any employee, government employees also receive their salary as remuneration to the work that they do for or provide to the government.

The salary of government employees is among the different benefits identified under the Compensation Plan (crafted by the Department of Budget and Management) consistent with Republic Act No. 6758 or the Act Prescribing a Revised Compensation and Position Classification System in the Government and Other Purposes.

RA No. 6758 is among the legal bases that covers the grant of salary and other compensation to government employees. Under the law, the grant of salary and other compensation to government employees shall be covered by a legal basis or authority.

According to the DBM, the Compensation Plan was crafted to attract, motivate and retain good and qualified employees to dispense or achieve the mission and mandate of the government.

The Compensation Plan is a mix of compensation which include: basic pay or salaries, fringe benefits, incentives, and non-financial rewards; all for the benefit of government employees.

In this post, we will discuss about salaries and salary increase and we will discuss in other posts the other benefits available to government employees.

What is Basic Pay, Salary and Wage?

Sometimes, these terms are used by other people to mean similar meaning but actually they are different from each other.

According to the Compensation Plan, Basic Pay refers to the primary cash compensation for work performed, excluding any other payments, allowances and fringe benefits.

On the other hand, salary refers to the basic pay for work performed by an employee paid on a monthly basis while wage refers to the basic pay for work performed by an employee paid on a daily or hourly basis.

How does the government determine the salary of government employees?

The compensation of government employees are based on the following principles:

• All government personnel shall be paid just and equitable salaries and wages.
• The basic pay for all personnel in the government shall generally be comparable with those in the private sector.
• The basic pay shall be at a reasonable level in proportion to the national budget.
• Shall be reviewed periodically in account of erosion in purchasing power. (Note: This is one of the basis for the salary increase of government employees)

Each position in the government has a Salary Grade (SG) assigned; SG 33 being the highest and SG 1 being the lowest; the amount for each salary grade is provided in a Salary Schedule as provided in pertinent Salary Standardization Law (SSL)

Question: Can you guess whose salary grade is SG 33? Please leave us your answer in the comments section below.

What is the Salary Schedule of government employees?

According to the Compensation Plan, the salary schedule is a table of salary grades with each salary grade consisting of several salary steps with corresponding money values.

The salary schedule is implemented and updated by the Budget Department whenever there are across-the-board salary adjustments as may be provided by law.

[View the Salary Schedule of Government Employees for CY 2023 here]

What is a Salary Grade?

The Salary Grade represents a level of difficulty and responsibility of a position in the government. SG 33 is given to the most difficult position in the government and no other position is considered to be of equivalent rank.

Can you guess now whose position holds Salary Grade 33?

Salary Increase of Government Employees

Below are some of the instances when a government employee receives an increase in his/her salary:

1. When there is a new Salary Standardization Law that increases the salary of government employees.

[Will there be a Salary Increase in 2024 for Government Employees?]

[Update on Salary Increase and Salary Standardization Law for 2024]

2. When the tranches of a Salary Standardization Law is implemented. This is usually implemented annually.

3. Through a step increment. (We will discuss this more in detail in a separate post)

4. When a government employee is promoted. Remember that a salary grade is based on the level of difficulty of work of a position. As you go higher, your job becomes more difficult; hence, you receive a higher salary grade.

Summary

Just like any employee in any part of the world, a government employee receives remuneration for his work in the form of a salary or wage. In the Philippines, the salary of government employees is covered by a Salary Standardization Law. Each position is assigned a Salary Grade depending on the level of difficulty and responsibility. Government employees receive a salary increase whenever there is new law implementing a pay raise, through a step increment, or through a promotion.

Do you have any question?

Leave us a message in the comment section if you have any question. We will try our best to provide the answer.