The new public sector pay policy, the Single Spine Salary Structure, comes into effect tomorrow but already there are indications a section of public sector workers are not in favour of it. The new pay policy is a unified salary structure that places all public sector employees on one vertical structure, making sure that jobs within the same job value range are paid within the same pay range. It would replace all existing salary schemes within the public service. In the months prior to the policy's implementation, various labour groups have taken diverse positions on certain aspects of the policy. Some of these labour groups have accepted the need for a single pay structure but many more have kicked against the whole idea. Most vocal against the policy is The Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOSSAG), which has called for the single spine pay policy to be scrapped. The group says the Ghana Universal Salary Structure should be maintained and other workers brought on to it. James Ekow Amissah, the Acting President of CLOSAG said a lot of money had been spent addressing problems associated with the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) and there was therefore no need to abandon that policy and go for the SSSS. He said another challenge is that while the GUSS has 24 levels, the SSSS has 25 levels which will create more problems. The University Teachers Association of Ghana, UTAG on the other hand have welcomed the pay policy. They have however expressed worry that the committee set up to review the job evaluation process has not communicated much information to the public. The president of UTAG, Dr. Samuel Kwesi Asiedu Addo said the universities “are also concerned about the migration of salaries to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. We have written papers to the government through the Vice Chancellors Ghana…, we are not in favour of it because it will cause more problems than they are trying to solve.” The National Association of Graduate Teachers has also welcomed the single Spine Salary Structure, but like UTAG, it says the job evaluation process should be redone. Despite these calls by the various groups, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is set to go ahead with its implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure from tomorrow, July 1st. Play the attached audio and listen to the disagreements by the various labour groups over the new pay policy. Source: Joy News