The government has awarded public-sector employees a 5.0-percent "special incentive", effective from the very first day of July.
In-service employees will receive the incentive, a minimum of Tk 1,000, while the pensioners will get a minimum of Tk 500 each month.
The Ministry of Finance issued a notification to this effect on Tuesday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 25 in her speech in parliament requested the finance minister to consider providing a 5.0-percent incentive to the public-sector employees.
The public sector employees get their wages hiked by 5.0 per cent of their basic pay as a yearly increment. The special incentive will be in addition to the regular pay hike and they will get it every year.
This incentive applies to employees in civil, self-governed, state-owned organisations, banks, insurance, financial institutions, the Border Guard Bangladesh, and the police force under the national pay scales. The entitlement is in accordance with the section-15 of the Public Service Act 2018, said the notification.
Pensioners who have reinstated their pension will also receive the same incentive at the same rate. Similarly, government employees on post-retirement leave (PRL) will enjoy the same benefit based on their last-drawn basic pay prior to the ongoing PRL.
Government employees who are under job suspension will also get the incentive at a rate of 5.0 per cent on half of their basic pay.
However, the notification clarifies that employees on leave without pay and those who have withdrawn 100 per cent of their gross pension upon retirement are not eligible for the special incentive.
Public sector employees on contractual appointment will also get the incentive based on their basic pay.
The notification mentioned that organisations whose expenses are not paid from the government's revenue budget will have to bear the expenses for special incentives from their own income.
Meantime, on Tuesday afternoon, the finance ministry in a separate notification said teachers and employees working in private sector educational institutions, who are on the government's monthly payment order (MPO), will also get the 5.0 per cent special incentive on their basic pay.
syful-islam@outlook.com
