Japanese govt workers will have to accept pay cut

The Daily Yomiuri, Asia News Network, Tokyo

The National Personnel Authority (NPA)'s proposal that government workers should have their salaries cut is a tough recommendation that the workers will have to accept, considering the sagging pay levels in the private sector today.

On Thursday, the NPA presented Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the leaders of both houses of the Diet with a proposal concerning changes in pay scales for national government workers.

The NPA's proposal calls for an average monthly salary cut of 7,770 yen, a 2.03 percent drop in this regard. The recommendation for cuts in central government workers' salaries was the first of its kind since the NPA was assigned the task of making such proposals.

The proposal also calls for the seasonal bonus to be cut by a margin of one-twentieth of a month. All told, the NPA's proposal would reduce the annual income of government employees by an average of about 150,000 yen.

Under the National Civil Service Law, central government employees should be paid salaries that conform to those paid by private corporations.

The NPA carried out a survey of salaries earned in April by about 400,000 workers at approximately 8,000 offices across the country. According to the findings, the levels of salaries paid to private-sector workers were much lower than those of wages earned by government employees. It is known that many corporations sought to curb salary payments, for example, by freezing their workers' base wages and cutting their wages, rather than offering the mandatory pay raise.

The NPA's proposal represents an attempt to offset the gap. The recommendation will probably be frustrating for government workers, especially if they have worked hard to fulfill their duties. Government ministries and agencies should treat their employees according to ability and accomplishment, instead of promoting them and raising their salaries according to length of service as in the past.

Even under the current system, government employees can be promoted and paid more as a reward for good work. It is also essential to review the levels of retirement allowances paid to government workers, although this issue falls outside the purview of the NPA.

For example, a national government employee receives about 90 million yen in retirement allowance if he or she quits public service as an administrative vice minister. Is this fair?

The Public Management Ministry is reportedly checking into the levels of retirement allowance paid to corporate employees. It should release a report on the survey as soon as possible and reduce retirement allowances received by administrative vice ministers to levels acceptable to the public.

At the same time, the ministry should also study ways to reform the current system governing severance allowances to have them conform with levels paid to private-sector employees.

In addition to its recommendations for cuts in government workers' salaries, the NPA has issued a report on reforming the public service system.

In this respect, the Cabinet Secretariat is working to put together specific measures needed to carry out plans stipulated in a broad outline adopted earlier by the Cabinet. The NPA's latest report has raised many questions about the goals cited in the outline.

For instance, the report criticizes a plan in the outline to impose restrictions on retired government workers taking up executive positions at private businesses under the practice known as amakudari (descent from heaven). The outline says retired bureaucrats must receive approval from a cabinet member heading a government organ to which they belonged before they could accept a senior position at a corporation.

However, the NPA's report argues that the plan is open to criticism because it will encourage government ministries and agencies to defend their own turf. Instead, the report suggests that the Cabinet be solely responsible for administering affairs related to retired bureaucrats seeking positions at private corporations.

The NPA's latest report is convincing in many respects and may reflect its regret that it had not done enough in the past to reform the public service system.

Meanwhile, Koizumi has told members of the Cabinet to correct flaws in the current system in which many high-ranking bureaucrats quit before their mandatory retirement ages and take advantage of the amakudari practice. To restore the public's trust in government employees, the government should reform the civil service system. If necessary, the general guidelines for a reform of the system should be reviewed.