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Payment of Housing Allowance to public sector employees
By Khaya Sodidi
Dear members.
The state has implemented the cash payment of 28.5% of GEMS in August 2015 backdated January 2015. The cash payments varied according to the medical aid package the GEMS members belong to. The state also implemented the 0.6% in August 2015 that was a shortfall of 7% that was agreed upon in salary agreement. The 0.6% is backdated with effect from 1 April 2015.
Kindly note that the implementation date for Government Employees Housing Scheme (GEHS) is not yet confirmed. The Task Team that is fine-tuning GEHS has been established. The team consists of labour and the employer. In our last meeting as the task team, the employer indicated that they are finalizing logistics for the implementation of the housing scheme resolution.
The resolution [GEHS] contains the housing allowance that will be paid direct to the state employees and the savings scheme. The task team is dealing with the administration of GEHS and that includes the savings modality. In the meantime, all the homeowners will receive an increase of R300 (from R900 to R1200) and those who do not own homes/houses will remain at R900 and the R300 will go to savings scheme as a deposit towards home ownership when an employee is ready for ownership. The task team will also look at homeowners who are not paying bonds and that include homeownership at the villages. The back pay for the housing allowance will be with effect 1 July 2015. As soon as the date for the implementation of the allowance is confirmed, I will communicate it with you.
DENOSA COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
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