Single Spine Salary Structure For Health Workers 2023 Pdf Download [EXCLUSIVE]
Vernon Butte
The essence of this study is to provide information on bringing together, analysis ofnational discourses about how the single spine pay policy influences the work of doctorsand nurses. The main objectives of the study were to examine the impact of the policyon public sector doctors and nurses, and to suggest measures that can help to addressthe difficulties associated with motivation of public sector health workers, among others.Quantitative and Qualitative research methodologies were used in this study with thepragmatist research paradigm. Case study design was used with doctors and professionalnurses in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (tertiary healthcare facility), Greater Accra RegionalHospital (secondary health care facility), Tema General Hospital (secondary healthcarefacility), Dangbe East District Hospital, Ada (primary healthcare facility), and PentecostHospital, Madina (primary healthcare facility), all in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, archival records and personalobservations of the researcher. 557 structured questionnaires were distributed out ofwhich 551 were returned. The results of the study show that the Single Spine Pay Policyserved as motivation that increased productivity to a certain level and led to efficiencyin service delivery in the public health sector. Their concern is that, the enhanced salaryis being eroded by the rise inflation. Again, it was revealed that health workers wantthe enhanced salary to go with, good working condition such as modern equipment,continuous professional development and recognition of effort such as promotion.Finally, the study recommends that there must be other packages that could help healthworkers give out their best with enough opportunity for career development as well asequipment.
Therefore, for them to work effectively, they must be motivatedand supported. On the contrary, when there is lack of motivationand satisfaction, workers tend to shirk their duties, absentthemselves from work, become impolite and are involved in allkinds of negative behaviours, which usually affect the efficacy ofhealth services (Ramasodi). In addition, lack of motivation partlyexplains why doctors and nurses in most developing countries like Ghana, migrate to western countries. Low salaries, poorworking environment, absence of opportunities for professionaldevelopment and promotion on their grade, leave workersdissatisfied, usually pushing them away from their home countriesto search for greener pastures elsewhere Bach [4,5]. therefore,noted that, motivation and employee satisfaction are important,if health workers are to be retained and effectively deliver healthservices in any part of the world. This is an assertion that theresearcher believes in. The various salary structures and incentivepackages established to address performance problems in thepublic health sector according to the Ministry of Health MOH [6]are briefly discussed chronologically.
single spine salary structure for health workers 2023 pdf download
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Before 2008, workers of the public health sector wereremunerated based on the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS)together with all public-sector workers. There was no motivationfor scarce skills such as doctors and nurses. Public sector doctorsand nurse migrated for greener pastures abroad where higherpremium was placed on their skills MOH [6]. There was pressure onalready poor health system as the vital human resource migratedfor greener pastures. To motivate public sector health workers, anincentive package was designed for them called Additional DutyHours Allowance (ADHA). The concept of ADHA was to compensatepublic workers including doctors and nurses who did extra work,after the maximum forty (40) hours a week which is a provisionin the labour law MOH [6]. Doctors and nurses had some level ofmotivation to work for extra hours. But the management of theADHA was faced with difficulties as many people signed manyhours of additional work done in a month, which was very difficultto prove MOH [6]. The Ministry of Health, therefore, establisheda maximum ceiling on the hours that health workers can do. Forinstance, the maximum hours that a doctor and a nurse could signas an overtime, worked, are as follow:
Another issue was that, pension fund deductions were madeonly on the base pay and not the ADHA. This was because the latterwas an allowance paid on tabletop, according to the Ministry ofHealth. Health workers had enhanced remuneration that is, thebase pay and ADHA. The extra hours of work were recognized buthad unattractive pension benefits. Agitations made Governmentdecided to develop a salary structure for health workers called theHealth Sector Salary Structure MOH [6].
Health Sector Salary Structure was created for public healthsector workers thus taking them from the Ghana Universal SalaryStructure (GUSS) in 2006 and taking into consideration the BasePay and the Additional Duty Hours Allowance according to theController and Accountant General, (CAGD). The consolidated salary going through the Controller and Accountant General meantthat, the statutory pension fund, which is the Social Security andNational Insurance Trust (SSNIT) deduction was made on theenhanced salary. As the public sector health workers were movedfrom the GUSS to the HSS in 2006, it came with its concomitantchallenges. This was because, the employees of various ministries,departments and agencies were not in favour of this move of givingpreferential treatment to health workers. This resulted in generalagitation by almost all public sector workers, spearheaded byteachers in the country, resulting into many strike actions CAGD[7]. The newly created Health Sector Salary (HSS) structure also didnot solve the problem of remuneration of public sector workers inthe country. It even gave rise of discomfort between health workersand other public sector workers. Government once again in 2009,decided to adopt another approach in solving salary problems ofall workers, and therefore, introduced the current Single Spine PayPolicy Abbey [8].
This pay policy was established by the Government in 2010through the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC). Section 2, ofthe Fair Wages and Salary Commission Act of 2007, Act 737 entruststhe Commission to ensure equity, transparency and a step by stepimplementation of Government public service pay policy. FWSCthen adopted a scientific approach in determining public sectorsalary. Job Evaluation and Analysis was performed on all publicsector workers. Thirteen (13) compensable factors categorisedinto four (4) major subgroups were used FWSC [9]. This is shownon Table 1 below. Representatives of various professional bodiesof all public sector institutions participated in the Job Evaluationand Analysis, which determined the base pay. Market premium wasalso added to the base pay as a consolidated allowance for scaresskills in the country at a particular time. There was also a provisionfor conversion difference. Conversion difference, according to theFWSC, is a top-up salary for a person who will receive a lower basepay when the salary is migrated from the HSS to the SSPP. All thesepoint to the fact that, there is a big challenge when it comes to theremuneration of public sector health workers. After migrating health workers to the SSPP, the FWSC states that, salary has beenenhanced for all public sector health workers. Health workersare expected to give their maximum performance to justify theincrement in salaries.
The Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) pay policy waschanged to the Health Sector Salary Structure (HSS) in 2006 whichwas also changed to the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) in 2010. Allthese changes happened between the periods of 1999 and 2010Abbey [8]. The FWSC indicates salary levels are commensurate tojob levels in the country. But there are more agitations for salariesto be reviewed upwards under the SSPP. Taking doctors andnurses in Greater Accra as case study, this study was focused onthe assessment of workers view on the single spine pay policy as amotivational factor.
The research was limited to doctors and nurses in the publicsector within greater Accra region. This is because, they formedover seventy percent (70%) of the core clinical staff of the generalhealth workers in Greater Accra. The study covered health facilitiesin Greater Accra Region since there is a concentration of publichealth workers (doctors and nurses) and to manage cost. Thefacilities include: Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (tertiary healthcarefacility), Greater Accra Reginal Hospital (secondary health carefacility), Tema General Hospital (secondary healthcare facility),Dangbe East District Hospital, Ada (primary healthcare facility),and Pentecost (primary health facilities). Again, the headquartersof all the Trade Unions representing public health workers are inGreater Accra. Primary data was collected from doctors and nursesof hospitals and health facilities in Greater Accra region.
The public-sector health workers in Ghana crave to havethese reward systems as some are lacking. The Fair Wages andsalary Commission has created categories of allowances to meetthe increasing demands of works in this direction. Most of thearguments have been centred on the base pay alone as reward. Inthe view of Hughes et al. [19] managers, in the past, used to developtheir motivation system where compensations were used as ameasure to reward and punish employees in accordance with theirbehaviour. They added that, non-management factors such as thevalues of employees and their level of awareness of equity shouldbe given much attention, especially in recent times. It is their beliefthat this will make organizations attractive and also help reduceemployee turnover whiles meeting organizational goals. It mustbe emphasized that motivation is just an exchange for employeeservices but can serve as a tool used by managers to influence thebehaviour of employees Chu [20]. It is therefore imperative for public sector organizations to ensure that public sector workersespecially health workers are highly motivated and compensateddue to the sensitivity of their services. Robbins [21] suggeststhat, motivation system is centred on three main factors, that is,job-based, performance-based and skill-based pays. A thoroughdescription of these factors is provided below: