Govt Reveals Plan & Timelines for New Civil Servants Payroll System
The recent draft report from the Public Service Ministry has accelerated the proposal to modify employment terms for civil servants.
In the preliminary report titled “Public Service Transformation Strategy, 2024-2029,” every civil servant across all job categories will be given Unified Payroll Numbers (UPNs) to facilitate efficient administration.
The data will be connected to both the Integrated Persons Registry Systems (IPRS) civil registration system and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) system to replace the manual payroll process.
The government is implementing a plan to ensure the efficient use of resources in providing services and aims to reduce the high payroll costs, which currently make up 47% of the regular revenue.
The plan involves shifting employees from permanent contracts to fixed-term contracts, making their continued employment in the public sector contingent on their performance.
The draft report states that all public sector payrolls will now be handled through the unified Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS).
The project is set to begin within the first year following the approval of the preliminary report.
The process will involve performing a payroll review across all Ministries, Departments, Agencies, and Counties to detect any discrepancies.
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A comprehensive report will be compiled, detailing the number of government ministries and departments with clean payrolls. This report will be uploaded onto the unified Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS).
Furthermore, changes will be implemented in the Public Finance Management regulations to establish penalties for failing to adhere to the recommendations specified in the preliminary reports.
Additionally, a tool for predicting wage bills will be created to aid in making informed decisions about salaries and allowances. This tool is scheduled for implementation one year after the introduction of the Unified Payroll Number (UPN).
CS Kuria is responsible for preparing a report to present to the Cabinet, seeking approval for the proposed plans. If the Cabinet supports the initiative, civil servants will lose their entitlement to benefits like pensions, insurance premiums, and other privileges afforded to government employees.
In the announcement, the Public Service CS emphasized the strategy’s goal to lower the national wage bill. He noted that about half of the country’s revenue is presently dedicated to paying the salaries of around one million public employees.
Govt Reveals Plan & Timelines for New Civil Servants Payroll System
