The GCCA: Seeking to address distortions and inequality in pay?

I have been receiving inquiries lately by e-mails, text messages and phone calls on the status of SSL 3. For the record, SSL 3 refers to the Proposed Government Compensation and Classification Act or GCCA. The proposed salary measure is with the House of Representative and denominated as House Bill No. 5918. It was introduced by Congressmen Joey Salceda and Francis Nepomuceno. Latest information about the GCCA can be obtained from the House website and that the House Appropriations Committee has formed a technical working composed of the committee members, CSC, DBM and COA to "study the merit of a key reform measure aimed at providing a new salary structure for government employees to narrow the disparity in salaries of civil service workers and those in the private sector".

The draft GCCA can be downloaded from the CSC website. But for the sake of those who have not gotten a copy or have not read the bill, here's a summary of my presentation during the December 5th Year-end Seminar of Local Budget Officers:

Omnibus Job Classification and Compensation system (OJCCS). This is the heart of the GCCA which shall jointly be formulated by the CSC and DBM. The OJCCS shall:

- promote internal equity among government employees, taking into consideration the principle of "equal pay for work of equal value"; and that differences in pay are subject to compensable factors;

- give due regard to external equity by considering prevailing market rates for work in medium sized private enterprises; pay rates are modest in keeping with fiscal realities;

- use performance as basis for merit increases, promotions, and incentives;

- easy to administer and responsive to current challenges; simple denomination of jobs; and subject to periodic review.

This is going to be on installment basis, so please bear with me.