SRC approves Sh2.5 billion of workers' benefits in Q4

President William Ruto's move to pause new hiring in government could do little to cushion the wage bill from further increases after the salary review body approved a Sh2.52 billion rise.

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) in its latest Q4 Wage Bill bulletin, says it has approved an additional Sh2.52 billion of benefits to government employees from the Sh5.5 billion worth of requests made in the three months to June 2024.

This brings the total approved requests for the entire 2023/24 Financial Year to Sh32.2 billion.

The approved requests include Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) reviews, allowances and benefits, salary reviews and rewards/bonuses from public institutions.

Consequently, the approvals will likely see the country's wage bill balloon even further, beyond the Sh1.17 trillion mark that was stated by the Commission at the end of the 2023 Financial Year.

The bulletin further reveals that the commission received requests worth Sh52.02 billion from public institutions in the financial year ending June 30 this year compared to Sh8.18 billion received in the previous year.

"Out of the requests received in FY 2023/2024, SRC approved Sh32.21 billion, equivalent to 61.92 per cent of the total requests received, compared to Sh4.27 billion approved in FY 2022/2023, equivalent to 52.26 per cent," the bulletin reads.

A high percentage of the requests approved in the fourth quarter was mainly attributed to SRC's advice on CBA for Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU), and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA).

Notably, these were for the 2021-2025 cycle, as presented by the Inter-Public Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF).

The county expenditure on Personnel Emoluments (PE) during the fourth quarter is thus estimated at Sh53.42 billion, up from Sh48.4 billion spent during the third quarter.

This pushes the estimated county expenditure as a proportion of the total revenue for the fourth quarter to 45.15 per cent, up from 43.37 per cent realised in the third quarter.

According to the commission, this implies that the county wage bill to revenue ratio remains above the Public Finance Management (PFM) Regulations, 2015, threshold of 35 per cent.

On the other hand, the PE for the national government (excluding the national security sector and CFS), as a share of the total expenditure, is estimated to rise from 25.51 per cent in the third quarter to 23.54 per cent in the fourth quarter.

With an estimated drop in ordinary revenue in the national government from Sh484.22 billion in the third quarter to Sh471.1 billion in the fourth quarter of FY 2023/2024, the national wage bill to ordinary revenue ratio is thus estimated to increase from 29.92 per cent to 34.73 per cent, respectively.

This is barely below the threshold of a maximum of 35 per cent, as set by PFM Act, 2012, and PFM Regulations, 2015, the bulletin reads in part.