SRC rejects Nurses CBA allowance proposals

Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) chairperson Sarah Serem. photo:courtesy

The allowances given to nurses in the controversial pay deal are exaggerated and unaffordable, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has said.

The commission described as impractical a uniform allowance of Sh40,000 for each of the 25,000 unionisable health workers, which would translate to Sh1 billion a year.

The SRC further revealed that job evaluations for nurses were complete and expected the Council of Governors (CoG) to discuss the recommendations with the Kenya National Union of Nurses to prevent future disputes.

During a press conference, SRC chairperson Sarah Serem said the award of a Sh15,400 risk allowance for nurses was three times higher than what the commission had recommended.

She argued that implementing this alone would cost Sh13 billion in four years, a burden 'Wanjiku' (ordinary taxpayer) would be expected to bear.

"An unstructured way of awarding salary and other allowances to public officers is not sustainable and could lead to disharmony and a spiral effect across the sector," she explained.

EXTRANEOUS ALLOWANCE

"The additional cost of the review of the extraneous allowance will lead to approximately an additional cost of Sh1.4 billion per annum. Risk allowance will lead to approximately Sh 3.3 billion."

She said her commission had not rejected the CBA as had been widely reported.

"The commission is constrained to issue a 'no objection letter' since the CoG is yet to respond and provide feedback on the above items," Ms Serem said.

"The commission gives a 'no objection letter' to facilitate the registration of the CBA in the Employment and Labour Relations Court only after the employing agency and the union have concluded and signed the CBA in line with SRC's advice."

The Ministry of Labour has called for reconciliation talks.