Government Employees to Enjoy Pay Hike, Medical Allowance

Government employees welcome the weekend with good news as the Office of the President on Friday, 02 August 2024 signed an executive order mandating a new salary schedule for government personnel and provision of an annual Php7,000.00 medical allowance.

Under Executive Order 64 (EO 64), all civilian employees in the executive, judiciary, and legislative branch of the government must be entitled to an upward salary adjustment to be implemented in four tranches, that is, on 01 January 2024, 01 January 2025, 01 January 2026, and 01 January 2027.

The adjustment also applies to public workers in constitutional bodies, government-owned or -controlled corporations not covered by Republic Act 10149 series of 2011 and Executive Order 150 series of 2021, and local government units.

An example of the compensation rise is the augmentation of entry level pay, salary grade 11, from Php27,000.00 under the current pay schedule to Php28,512.00. This will climb to Php30,024.00, Php31,705.00, and Php33,387.00 in the second, third, and fourth tranche, respectively.

EO 64, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin under the president’s authority, indicates the retroactive implementation of the modified salary schedule, that is, commencing on 01 January 2024.

In addition to the salary hike, the executive order endows the government employees with a yearly Php7,000.00 medical allowance beginning next year, 2025. This serves as a subsidy for benefits availed from health maintenance organizations.

Among the rationale of EO 64, it states that “ . . . given the prevailing economic circumstances, including the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation, there is a need to update the salaries and benefits of government personnel in order to maintain a competent, committed, agile and health workforce, thereby promoting social justice, integrity, efficiency, accountability, and excellence, and ultimately translating to increased productivity and higher-quality public services.”

Towards a strategic compensation adjustment, the executive order aims to conform with the following pillars: compensation at par with that in the private sector, corresponding pay for workload and qualification, importance given to the employees’ pay, and government financial capacity.

Click here to view EO 64.