The wages of grades 1 to 5 Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网 support staff are to increase this year by 9.8% following a recent agreement reached with NEHAWU, the union representing grades 1 to 5 support staff.
The 9.8% increase translates into a cost-to-company total remuneration shift - made up of a cash or basic wage component plus housing allowance, provident fund and bonus - ranging from R65, 867 to R94, 445 per annum.?
The basic salary to be paid (in April and back dated to 1 January 2010) to the NEHAWU represented support staff categories increases from R37, 740 (2009) to R42, 900 and the maximum from R60, 275 (2009) to R65, 098.
The advances made this year bode well for future staff development and advancement which are aimed simultaneously at addressing past inequities and bringing about internal and external equity, they said.
Also covered in the settlement are an increase in the travel allowance paid to catering and CPU staff of 7.1%, and an increase in the housing allowance for all staff from R550 per month to R630 per month (14.5% increase).
Additionally, it was also agreed that 0.6% of the 9.8% be allocated to the market adjustment for grade 1s, which moves the entry level cash salary from R3145 per month (2009) to R3575 per month in 2010 (13.7% increase). The full remuneration package including benefits at this level is now approximately R54500 per annum.
This shift sees all staff on the grade 1 earning at or above the 50th percentile. This percentile represents the average paid at the relevant grade level in Higher Education. This is the goal that has been set in terms of improving staff salaries.
According to Human Resources Director, Ms Sarah Fischer, “getting all the grade 1 staff to the 50th percentile first was a deliberate strategy. It is very pleasing to note the achievement of this first milestone”.
The salary negotiations with NTEU – representing academic and support staff of grade 6 and above - were settled timeously and amicably in December 2009.
In terms of the settlement with NTEU, academics received an annual adjustment of 6.5% and market adjustment of 0.5%, while the grade 6+ support staff received an annual adjustment of 7.5%. A further 3.5% of the total budget for the grade 6+ support staff was made available for market adjustments, and discussions related to this are still proceeding. This represented a total increase for this collective of 9.3%.
These latest settlements as regards market adjustments see the institutions’ contribution to improving staff salaries within the Higher education environment standing at over R20 million. Since 2008, approximately R8.5 million has been allocated to improving academic remuneration. For support staff, this figure stands at just over R13.5 million.
Pic: Ms Sarah Fischer.