As the economy continues to recover, salaries for public servants might also increase, Faustin Mwambari, the Head of the Employment Ecosystem Policy and Strategy Department in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour said on Monday, May 1, the International Labour Day.

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The move follows requests by workers’ unions and most recently, the Rwandan Socialist Labour Party (PSR) to the government to urgently consider a way to increase the salaries of workers.

In a survey carried out by the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research-Rwanda (IPAR) in 2022, 58 per cent of respondents reported an increase in the cost of living.

"Covid-19 and the Ukraine-Russia war affected the economy. It also affected the labour market. Therefore, increasing salaries for public servants will depend on national economic status. We are on recovery journey and workers’ salaries will also increase,” he said.

He however said the government made an effort to avoid layoffs of employees in the public sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, although it was difficult for the private sector.

"The result of increasing productivity in institutions could trigger the increase of salaries,” he said.

Speaking about revised working hours, Mwambari said that there is a need for shift work in the private sector to deal with new working hours.

"The private sector needs to work all 24 hours and therefore work in shifts should be prioritised,” he said.

He said there is a need for increasing the capacity of employees to boost productivity in their respective institutions.

"Eight hours per day for workers are enough. What is needed is capacity-building to optimize these hours which increases productivity. The workers need an enabling environment to boost productivity, and should be retained and motivated,” he said.

A cabinet meeting on November 11, revised working hours to eight a day, starting from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm - excluding a one-hour lunch break.

However, these eight working hours include a flexible hour between 8:00 am and 9:00 am, where an employee may work remotely.

Before this, the official working hours were nine, which made it 45 in a week (Monday-Friday).

Africain Biraboneye, the General Secretary of Rwanda Workers’ Trade Union Confederation, said that workers in the informal sector make up a big part of the workforce in Rwanda yet they are not well treated.

"The workers are not given contracts. As a result, they have no access to bank loans. Although the government took the initiative to tax salaries starting with Rwf60, 000, we are requesting that taxes start with those with over Rwf100, 000 salary. Regulating food prices will also have a positive impact on workers,” Biraboneye said.

ALSO READ: Government to raise cap on taxable monthly income.

Felix Mutagoma, the Human Resources Director at the Private Sector Federation, said there is a need for capacity-building for workers to improve their performance and increase productivity.

"We have trained 1,064 workers in business companies about 35 topics. We also realised there is a lack of written contracts in most private companies as they try to evade taxes. We continue to do advocacy and group workers in associations,” he said.