The Federal Government has announced that a new wage system based on employee productivity in the civil service is underway.
The government explained that with the system, workers on the same level could earn different wages.
It said the formulation of an innovative wage system was being considered because it realised that productivity is a key factor in the growth of the economy.
The Director General of the National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr. Nasir Raji-Mustapha, announced this at a meeting with Labour Correspondents yesterday in Abuja.
He said: “We are in the process of developing a productivity-led wage system that will ensure that those who are productive are rewarded for their efforts, irrespective of their grade level. Under the proposed system, employees on the same salary scale can earn different wages.”
When asked if the new proposal on a productivity-led wage system had the support and input of organised labour, the NPC boss said such a task could not be carried out without the input of labour.
Raji-Mustapha said: “Of course, labour, as a critical stakeholder, is being carried along in this exercise. As researchers, we don’t just do things without considering the recipient of the reports.
“When we started the project about three or four years ago, we held a stakeholders’ forum in which the labour unions participated. We even went further to send memoranda to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to ask if they would support the proposed wage system and they said they would welcome it.”
He said the report on the first phase of the study was ready, adding that the next stage would be to engage various stakeholders to consider and make input before finally presenting it to the Federal Government for its consideration and possible adoption.
