Worse still, recommendations made by the same commission have been sidelined, if not rejected. However, the annual increment across the board bas been implemented as usual, and this time around it is 15%. I have learnt from Radio Botswana comments made by some union leaders and other members of the public that 15% covering all public employees is no good, they would have preferred a pyramid model salary adjustment i.e. lower scales being given the highest percentages and high scales being given lowest percentages. Of course this once happened (although I cannot remember the year) when 24% was given to BI-D4, 15% given to D4-E2 and 14% to E2 and above.
My viewpoint is that a pyramid model is not good at all as opposed to unitary increment. It is crucial to note that, remunerations must meet a variety of purposes. They reward productivity, effort, expertise and must be fair and honest to those concerned. Generally, all employees are paid because of purchasing power, recognition, and it is their right to be paid by the organizations they are working for. However the most determining factor for salary structures and administration is job evaluation. This is meant to make a systematic comparison between the nature of jobs and assess their relative worth for the purpose of establishing rational salaries. Grades, bands and salary structures are determined by the results of a job evaluation exercise. Attached to these are jobs, duties, responsibilities and posts which also have their own systematic way of attracting salaries or wages. In this regard, jobs must be placed in hierarchical pay levels which will make the scope of progression clearly defined.
