Laisa Taga
Hard to believe but it's true. The already well paid employees of regional organisations have just got themselves a hefty pay increase of up to 11 percent for some-despite a number of their member states facing money woes.

Why? Because regional organisations like the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) say they are finding it difficult to attract and retain the right talent.

This is because, they say, the packages and incentives offered by CROP (Council of Regional Organisations) members are not lucrative enough.

There are 10 regional organisations in CROP: Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Fiji School of Medicine, Pacific Islands Development Programme, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, South Pacific Board for Education Assessment, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, South Pacific Tourism Organisation and the University of the South Pacific.

Already some of the people employed by these regional organisations are earning more than the prime ministers of regional governments they are supposed to serve.

An analysis of CROP recruitment and retention data over four years beginning 2002, tabled in Palau last November, showed CROP agencies experiencing difficulties recruiting and retaining skilled and experienced people.

SPC, for instance, found that from 2001 to 2005 the average number of applications for SPC positions had dropped. In 2004, nine out of the 32 positions advertised attracted 10 or fewer applicants, and likewise in 2005 with 10 out of 31 positions advertised only attracting 10 or fewer applicants.

In addition, SPC says, the number of candidates whose applications met the minimum selection criteria “appeared to have fallen in absolute terms and relative to the total number of applications received for the positions advertised”.

As a result, SPC was forced to readvertise positions. It also says it was having difficulties recruiting from Europe, in particular France. And recently it has become less attractive to Australians and New Zealanders.

Yet, most of these organisations are still dominated by expatriates. In SPC, for instance, only 48% of the total professional staff are Pacific islanders.

According to the analysis, salaries for CROP professional staff were well below that of Australia and New Zealand's public service sectors, but above that of Fiji's.

Mindful that the quality of service is dependent on the quality of staff, SPC, like other CROP organisations, believes the key to attracting the right calibre of people is a “reasonable salary structure coupled with reasonable terms and conditions of service”.

So what is being offered?


SALARY

† Beginning January 1, this year, CROP's professional staff are getting a salary raise of between 5.13% to 10.62%. Professionals in Grade 1 are receiving a 5.13% increase; Grade J: 7.26%; Grade K: 10.62%; Grade L: 10.30%; and Grade M: 9.37%.

The increase, for instance, means that for those in Grade L (the level of Deputy Director General SPC), they will now be receiving a salary of between F$8100 to F$12,100 (US$4700 to US$7000) a month.

The last time CROP had a salary increase was in 1999 of five percent. Staff salaries constitute at least 50 percent of CROP's total annual budget.


OTHER PERKS

† Housing allowance
All professional staff irrespective of whether one is an expatriate or local will be entitled to housing allowance-75% of the monthly rental, the remaining 25% will be footed by the employees. In the case of SPC, the monthly rental ceiling has been set at F$3500 for Fiji-based staff. For SPC, this provides a wider range from the bottom rate of F$1170 to the top of F$2625 per month.

† Education allowance
All professional staff members are entitled to education allowance. And again like housing allowance, 25% of the cost of the children's education studying full time in a recognised educational institution will be footed by the employees and 75% by the employer.

† Annual leave
25 days per annum. For expatriate staff, home leave is payable after 18 months.

† Sick leave
30 working days per annum

† Medical benefits
Staff medical insurance provides a basic medical insurance cover for staff and dependants.

† Provident Fund
Staff members contribute 8% of basic salary and a matching contribution from the employer.

† Establishment Grant
Payable to non-residents.


TAX EXEMPTION

A CROP working group looking at the conditions of CROP employees had recommended that the Fiji Government be approached to grant tax free status to all CROP agency employees.

The Fiji Government, however, has rejected the tax-free status, saying it's now considering a review of the tax conditions of all CROP organisations based in Suva.

“What we're trying to do is to get them harmonised so that those that are currently exempted be unexempted like other regional organisations now operating in Fiji,” a top government official told Letter from Suva.

At the moment only the Fiji-based SPC staff are exempted from income tax as a result of an historical agreement signed in the 1960s.

The government official told Letter from Suva that it was unfair for Fiji-based staff of SPC to be exempted from income tax when SPC was renting free Fiji Government premises at Nabua.

So what does this all mean? For starters, regional organisations should be asking if they are truly advertising positions in the region? Letter from Suva heard grumbles from sources in Samoa recently, as an example. This was over jobs at the Forum Secretariat which had not been advertised in the media in Samoa, despite there being possible candidates there.

How are regional organisations going to get Pacific Islander applications for positions if they are not advertised properly throughout the island members?

Secondly, more money in regional organisations is going to be eaten up in salaries and perks for staff.

Thirdly, that these salary levels and perks seem to be tilted towards attracting professional staff from developed countries like Australia, New Zealand and France.

Fourthly, that regional governments are going to be looking more closely at the travel and meeting industry rife amongst regional organisations, with all the consequent benefits staff get from per diems. They are going to be wondering about real outcomes. Just as Fiji's Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase did when he last addressed the SPC.

Finally, regional governments are going to be looking more closely at this multitude of regional organisations to see if they are really getting their money's worth. And whether-with all these increasing costs-if there is too much costly duplication of effort?

Stay tuned to Letter from Suva.