Staff Reporter:
Government officials and employees yesterday received their salaries under the new pay structure along with arrears of increased salaries for July, August and September.
Many government employees received SMS notifications on their mobile phones after 10:00 am, confirming the payment of their October salaries and the additional amounts due for the previous three months.
According to officials at the Finance Division of the Ministry of Finance, nearly all of the country’s 1.4 million government employees, 800,000 pensioners and 600,000 MPO-listed teachers received the increased payments.
However, there were also employees who could not receive their revised salaries as their pay fixation process remained incomplete.
Several government officials said they received notifications confirming the payment under the revised pay structure from around 10:00 am. They expect the remaining employees to receive their payments within the next two to three days after completing the pay fixation process.
The government issued a gazette notification announcing the new National Pay Scale on September 17, retaining the existing 20 grades of government employees while deciding to increase basic salaries by up to 142 percent.
Under the revised structure, basic salaries for employees in grades one to 11 increased by 100 percent, while those in grades 12 to 20 received increases ranging from 115 to 142 percent.
The new pay structure came into effect on July 1, 2026, with implementation scheduled in phases rather than through a single adjustment.
According to the notification, from July 1 to December 31, 2026, officials in grade nine and above will receive 40 percent of the increased basic salary while employees in grades 10 to 20 will receive 50 percent of the increase.
The additional amount has been calculated against the salaries drawn or due on June 30, 2026.
From January 1 to June 30, 2027, employees will receive 75 percent of the increased basic salary. The government will implement 100 percent of the revised pay scale, including annual increments, from July 1, 2027.
All other allowances will continue at the rates applicable on June 30, 2026, until December 31, 2027. The revised allowance rates announced in the gazette will take effect from January 1, 2028.
The previous National Pay Scale came into effect in 2015, making the latest revision the first major restructuring of government salaries in 11 years.
Under the 2015 pay scale, basic salaries increased by 95 percent at the highest grade and 101 percent at the lowest grade.
