Will Govt Workers Receive 15% Cost of Living Allowance in 2023?

Will Govt Workers Receive 15% Cost of Living Allowance in 2023? Following the strike actions by Public Sector Workers, which lasted for 14 days, the government agreed to a 15% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). The COLA payments were to be paid for September to December 2022.

Technically, the government would not pay the Cost of Living Allowance in 2023 however, public sector workers are not sure if the government will go by the agreement reached in September 2022 or if the COLA payments will be extended further in 2023. No official statement has been made about whether the COLA will be paid in January or not at the time of this publication. 

The Cost of Living Allowance was part of the government’s contribution toward reducing the hardship of public sector workers when the economy was in hard times and real incomes dropped due to inflation, higher prices of goods and services coupled with hikes in fuel prices, and exchange rates. The call for COLA was an initiative started by Pre-Tertiary Education Unions. 

The 15% Cost of Living Allowance, which was introduced last year to cushion public sector workers against economic hardship, expired in December 2022.

In a report filed during the Joy News’ AM Show, Dr. Frank Serebour, the President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) indicated that public sector workers were not expecting the government to pay the Cost of Living Allowance in January 2023. 

This means public sector workers will see their incomes dip by the 15% COLA they had enjoyed from September 2022 to December 2022.

“The issue of COLA has not even been discussed and as we speak, January, essentially COLA will not be paid because we have not agreed on the fact that COLA should be paid because COLA was supposed to end in December.

So the 15% will go off and if we are not able to conclude, that’d essentially mean that salaries of public sector workers will see a 15% dip, so we need to conclude,” Dr. Frank Serebour said.

She, just like other public sector workers, would be glad to see the 15% COLA maintained for January 2023. According to her, it will not be bad if the COLA is maintained until the base pay negotiations ongoing are completed.

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“…we are all expecting the COLA to run until we are done with the base pay negotiations and then, the directive is given to Controller to implement. Then, I think we will have some peace,” she stated.

READ: GNAT gives fresh updates on 15% COLA payment

She also added that the payment of the allowance is necessary to avert any possible agitations.

Source: EdulearnWeb.com

Written by Ghana Education News Editorial Staff

The Ghana Education News Editorial Staff is comprised of seasoned education consultants, policy analysts, and verified journalists dedicated to providing accurate, timely, and credible updates on the Ghanaian GES curriculum, WAEC updates, and academic leadership.