SRC-Reviewed TSC teachers’ allowances 2021: List of TSC allowances for teachers to be scrapped, retained, merged, renamed or reduced in 2021

SRC-Reviewed TSC teachers’ allowances 2021: List of TSC allowances for teachers to be scrapped, retained, merged, renamed or reduced in 2021

TSC allowances 2021-2022– The Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) is warming up towards implementing key changes that will save the country from major financial crunches and deflate the ever ballooning wage bill in Kenya.

Unfortunately, civil servants teachers’ included will be counting their losses once SRC cracks the whip soon since their salary perks will be slashed.

TSC allowances for teachers 2021

The impending radical surgery will see some of the allowances paid to teachers get discarded and others revised downwards.

The rationale behind the scrapping of some of the TSC allowances paid to teachers in 2021; Background information

See also: List of all allowances paid to TSC teachers per job group: Latest TSC News

In case you are wondering why SRC is scrapping some of the allowances paid to teachers and other civil servants, here is the background information

1. Exaggerated and duplicated allowances: In 2019, SRC conducted a study that mapped out 247 allowances paid to government employees. The allowances accounted for 48 per cent of the total wage bill as of 2019 compared to 31 allowances as of the year 1999.

2. Ballooned wage bill as of 2019:

The increased number of allowances for civil servants goes against the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act 2015 which stipulates that the national government’s expenditure on the wage bill should not exceed 35 per cent of ordinary revenue.

SRC list of capped TSC Allowances 2021

The 2021 salaries review exercise by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission has got one main objective that is  minimizing disparities in gross remuneration package with the ultimate aim being to cap allowances at 40 per cent of basic pay.

SRC list of capped and scrapped TSC allowances 2021- list of affected teachers

While addressing journalists, recently, SRC chair Lyn Mengich announced that the new cycle may take effect six months after June, in December, a time when the commission projects to have completed the process of reviewing the allowances.

SRC Reviewed allowances will affect new TSC employees more

“Everybody will be affected. Some will impact more on other sectors of the employees. New employees will be affected where an allowance is being abolished. If provided for in a contractual obligation, it will not affect immediate staff enjoying that benefit,” She said.

Why SRC is reviewing TSC teachers’ allowances

To avoid duplication, redundancy, disparities and varied eligibility criteria.

2021 TSC list of Harmonized allowances for teachers

Allowances payable in the Public Service shall be harmonized and streamlined as follows:

Criteria to be used for harmonization of TSC allowances by SRC in 2021

1. Merging and renaming– Allowances and benefits that are paid for similar purposes but have different names shall be merged and renamed

2. Restructuring: Allowances and benefits whose rates are not commensurate with the intended purpose shall be restructured

3. Retaining: Allowances and benefits whose current form does not change shall be retained

4. Abolishing: Allowances and benefits whose rationale for payment is redundant and or overlaps with that of the basic salary shall be abolished

The Commission says allowances and benefits shall not be paid for purposes that are already compensated for in the basic salary thus resulting in a remuneration package that exceeds the relative worth of a job.

Streamlining of TSC Allowances and Benefits

To avoid duplication, redundancy, disparities and varied eligibility criteria, allowances payable in the Public Service shall be streamlined by:

Merging and renaming allowances and benefits that are paid for similar purposes but have different names;
Restructuring allowances and benefits whose rates are not commensurate with the intended purpose;
Retaining allowances and benefits whose current form does not change; and
Abolishing allowances and benefits whose rationale for payment is redundant and or overlaps with that of the basic salary.

List of Reviewed TSC allowances

TSC allowances that will be restructured include:

1. TSC Annual Leave Allowance

This is an allowance that is paid once in a year to teachers while on leave; usually paid with the January salaries. The Commission is intending to review this allowance due to the following reasons:

The wide banding of job groups eligible for Annual Leave Allowance is discriminative;
There is a disparity in the rates payable in the Public Service.
Some public sector institutions pay Annual Leave Allowance as a percentage of the basic salary, other institutions pay Annual Leave Allowance as an absolute figure.
Some public institutions allow for commutation of non-utilized leave days for cash.
Consequently, this is how the annual leave should be paid;

The Annual Leave Allowance shall be paid in absolute figure and not a percentage of basic salary. Indeed, this how TSC pays the annual leave for teachers and hence no much changes are expected here.

The SRC shall review the banding structure in the Annual Leave Allowance payments to provide clarity in banding and rates payable by the teacher’s grade.

2. TSC Hardship Allowance 2021

This is an allowance that is paid to teachers deployed in designated hardship areas. The allowance is meant to compensate teachers working in the Hardship Areas to compensate them for lack of basic social services and amenities, security risk, harsh climatic conditions, isolation and family separation.

Some teachers are set to lose the hardship allowance because the designated hardship areas shall be reviewed, by the relevant government institution/s to reflect changes in designated hardship areas arising from benefits of devolution and Equalization Fund. This is because devolution has implied that Counties are no longer necessarily hardship areas since they are receiving equalization funds to promote development in the counties thereby addressing the characteristics of hardship areas.

Related news; TSC reviews hardship areas; See latest list of all hardship areas

3. TSC Teachers’ Responsibility Allowance

This is an allowance paid to teachers in administrative posts. SRC has since abolished this allowance because the purpose for which the allowance is paid has been factored in the relative worth of the job through the job evaluation undertaken by the Commission. Indeed, this allowance was incorporated in the basic salaries for teachers holding administrative roles.

4. TSC Medical Allowance

The allowances are paid alongside monthly salary based on the job group to cater for outpatient medical treatment.

The allowance has now been abolished. Teachers had already lost their medical allowance some time back; and, part of it is paid to the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF; which is a statutory deduction) and the remaining goes to the TSC procured medical insurance scheme, AON-Minet.

List of all allowances paid to TSC teachers per job group: Latest TSC News

New salary scales for TSC teachers as from 2021

List of TSC Allowances and Benefits to be Retained by SRC in 2021

The following allowances shall not be modified:

S/N Allowance Name
1 Commuter Allowance
2 House Allowance
3 Disability Allowance
4 Transfer Allowance