Civil servants complain that the older they are, the less they get paid, according to the new salary scale. Analysts say the government should clarify the criteria in order not to demotivate workers.

The Single Wage Table (TSU), which generated much expectation in Mozambique, is disappointing public servants, who complain about unclear criteria for the definition of their new salaries.

The new TSU simplifies the remuneration system, replacing 103 tables with 21 scales, ranging from 8.758 to 165.758 meticais. It uses as a reference the salary of the President of the Republic, who currently earns around 205 thousand meticais.

With the simplification of levels, the minimum wage goes up 80% from the current 4,688 meticais. The table revolves around four criteria: academic qualifications, seniority, career, and age.

But one of the big complaints is that the more experience and age the employee has, the less salary he earns. This applies to civil servants over the age of 50.

Employees "punished" for length of service

One employee heard by DW, who asked not to be identified, says this criterion hurts him a lot. "I'm practically being punished for being a longer-serving employee, which I think is unfair, because individuals with less age and less time on the job are at high levels, meaning they are earning higher salaries than me, and I've been an employee for quite some time," he laments.

For analyst Ismael Nhancucue, it makes no sense for an experienced employee to be punished because of age. "The further you go up the pyramid, the fewer points people have. In other words, the older they are, the fewer points they have. This will hurt a little bit those employees who have more time in the state. And the other question is professional experience, which is more or less the same," he criticizes.

Several employees also regret that it is possible for a mid-level technician to earn the same salary as a graduate. This is "demotivating," comments a teacher, also on the condition of anonymity.

"Soon, we are being told that academic training ends up not having a positive impact. I don't know if there was a mistake, the truth is that what was expected is not happening. I think that there should be a base for each level, and the difference should be in terms of age, length of service, and career length," he argues.

Urgent revision of criteria requested

Civil servants are calling for an urgent review of the criteria for salary payments under the new table: "An expectation had been created far above what I saw in the table, and looking at the expectation created, I think it's not benefiting, taking into consideration the math I had done before."

The academic Ismael Mussá said in an interview with DW Africa partner STV that this whole process should be very well clarified so as not to discourage state officials.

"There are many questions, such as some indicators like age. It's very important that both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State Administration and Civil Service clarify to people some details to help them understand what the purpose of the age factor is," he exemplifies.