Cost of Living Allowance(COLA) Payment In Limbo; Bad News Drops

Employees in the public sector are unsure whether they will receive their Cost of Living Allowance at the start of the new year.
The 15% Cost of Living Allowance, which was implemented last year to protect public sector workers from economic hardship, will expire in December 2022.
According to a report on Joy News’ AM Show, the President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Frank Serebour, they are not expecting the allowance this month (January) because issues regarding its extension have yet to be discussed.
The president of the association also stated that if the government does not extend the allowance, public sector workers’ salaries will be reduced by 15%.
“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 be deducted, and if we are unable to reach an agreement, it will essentially mean that salaries in the public sector will be reduced by 15%, so we must reach an agreement” – Dr. Frank Serebour.

Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwifery Association (GRNMA), expects the allowance to be paid.
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She stated that the cost of living allowance should be continued until the base pay negotiation is completed.
“…we are all expecting, is for 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 believe we will have some peace,” she said.
She also stated that the allowance must be paid in order to avoid any commotion.

READ ALSO: Update on Base Pay negotiations 2023; meeting adjourned to 11th January, 2023