Merit salary increases at City Hall next year

CEBU, Philippines - City Hall workers who show excellent performance may soon have salary increases twice or even three times in one year as the Cebu City Government will implement next year the "Merit Step Increment."

This was announced yesterday by newly appointed Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) head Dominic Diño who said that starting next year, his office will be implementing the Strategic Performance Management System in line with the program of the Civil Service Commission.

Diño said the City will be implementing the Merit Step Increment system because they will no longer grant productivity bonus of P2,000 each to the close to 5,000 City Hall employees.

There are those who suspect the possibility that the new merit system may be used to favor employees, but the HRDO head said any aggrieved party can lodge a complaint before the Grievance Committee.

In case the parties are not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, they can elevate the matter to the Civil Service Commission.

As of yesterday, the Cebu City Government has 4,456 employees including the 20 elected city officials. Of these, 3,075 are casuals, 1,302 are regular workers, 46 are contractual workers and 11 are co-terminus employees.

Diño said the City Council approved a P1.2-billion budget for personal services. — (FREEMAN)