INTRODUCTION:

Public sector pay policy is one of the main problems facing governments, as it determines the ability to attract, retain, and motivate staff needed to fulfill its service delivery objectives. One option usually considered is relying on a single pay spine for all services into which jobs would be classified, thus ensuring greater comparability of similar jobs across the public sector. This classification has resulted in the introduction of various types of pay reforms by governments over the years. The ultimate aim of these reforms has been to ensure improvements in the salaries/compensation packages of public and civil service workers who are generally regarded as having lower pay levels than their counterparts in private entities.

Although this situation may be described as normal across the world, Ghana has suffered significantly from its implications with many public servants generally noted for being only motivated to work where they expect to receive some financial rewards in return for their service. Reforms have also sought to address the recurring canker of disparities and inequities in pay administration amongst public and civil servants in the country but most of these attempts have proven futile.

In most recent years, there has been a shift of focus towards the introduction of civil service reforms which focus on improvements in the delivery of service at all levels, and the rationalization of the operations of the sector in order for it to become a profitable entity. The most recent reform has been the introduction of the Ghana Universal Salary e ective of which was to ensure that there is pay equity across all public and civil service and which also makes room for public/civil service workers to opt out of the scheme if they so wished.

The implementation of the Ghana Universal Salary Structure was to migrate the salaries of civil and public servants onto the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) with the expectations of achieving the same goals and ensuring satisfaction amongst them. The migration of civil and public servants, since the introduction of the SSPP in 2010 has generated mixed feelings and agitations amongst civil and public servants all over the country. There have been complaints about existing distortions in salaries and inequities that used to exist under the previous pay system, the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS). A fair and transparent employee reward system and other innovative strategies that include supportive working environments or positive work climate, job enrichment, educational opportunities, etc., are seen as some of the ways to transform the overall context in which employees deliver their work performance, enhance their motivation and consequently improve the overall performance of the organization.

The objective of this paper is to determine whether the introduction of the single spine policy has brought about equitable pay system among the civil and public servants in Ghana.

Conceptual Issues:

Ghana as a nation has gone through quite a handful of wage and salary administration regimes and structures, especially in the public sector. One can remember the days of the Prices and Incomes Board and the frustrations in the implementation of the recommendations of the Price Water House Coopers Salary Structure and the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) in the year 2000.

A fair and transparent employee reward system and other innovative strategies that include supportive working environments or positive work climate, job enrichment, educational opportunities, etc., are seen as some of the ways to transform the overall context in which employees deliver their work, enhance their motivation and consequently improve the overall performance of the organization (Smith- Graham, 2011).

Employee reward is defined as ‘all of the monetary, non-monetary and psychological payments that an organization provides to its employees in exchange for the work they perform’. The overall aim of employee reward, according to Smith- Graham (2011), is to support the attainment of the organization’s strategic and short-term objectives by helping to ensure that it has the skilled, competent, committed and well - motivated workforce.

Pay is one aspect of an employee reward. It can be a fixed salary or wage that constitutes the rate for a job. It may be varied according to the grade of the job or, for manual workers, the level of skill required. Pay is influenced by internal and external relativities. The internal relativities may be measured by some form of job evaluation. External relativities are assessed by tracking market rates. Alternatively, levels of pay may be agreed through collective bargaining with trade unions or by reaching individual agreements.

Single Spine Salary Structure in Perspective:

The term single spine basically refers to the principle that all public sector workers no matter their area of specialization and the public organization they belong to must be placed or linked to one common salary structure. It is suggested that having employees with the required qualifications, skills and abilities to perform their job well is only part of the equation and will not automatically result in improved job performance. A fair and transparent employee reward system and other innovative strategies that include supportive working environments or positive work climate, job enrichment, educational opportunities, etc., are seen as some of the ways to transform the overall context in which employees deliver their work, enhance their motivation and consequently improve the overall performance of the organization.

The SSSS policy seeks to ensure that the public sector remuneration structure is rational, equitable, transparent and sustainable. Essentially, the policy involves placement of all public sector employees listed under Article 190 of the 1992 Ghana Constitution on one unified salary structure known as Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS). The public sector employees included in the SSSS are those in the Civil Service, Judicial Service, Audit Service, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Parliamentary Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Customs and Domestic Revenue Divisions of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Local Government Service, Ghana Police Service, and Ghana Prisons Service. Workers in public corporations other than those set up as commercial ventures, public services established by the constitution and all other public services as Parliament may by law prescribe are also included in the SSSS.

Those excluded from the structure are the military and public officials covered by Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The latter include the President, Vice President, Chairman and Members of Council of State, Ministers of State and their Deputies, Speaker and Deputy Speakers and Members of Parliament, Chief Justice and other justices of the Superior Court of Judicature, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission and others. The SSSS replaced the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) and other forms of pay structure within the various public sector institutions in order to restore equity and transparency in public service pay administration. Unlike the GUSS, which was a 22-level salary structure, the SSSS is a 25-level structure.

The SSSS also has a common base pay and common relativity across all the levels compared to the GUSS, which had variable base pay and relativities across levels. The base pay is the minimum pay on the SSSS, while the pay-point relativity is the percentage differentials between successive pay points.

Under the SSSS, jobs within the same job value range are expected to be paid within the same pay range in accordance with the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’. The value of the public sector jobs was assessed through job evaluation (JE) exercise. The process of the JE exercise involved evaluation of job descriptions / specifications for each job and the summing up of the evaluation points for each job to determine the ‘job worth’. Four common factor groupings, consisting of knowledge and skills, responsibility, effort and work conditions were used for the analysis and evaluation. The result of the JE exercise provided the basis for placement of public service jobs onto the SSSS.

The new pay reforms also involved the establishment of a Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to serve as an institution responsible for the implementation of the pay policy. The FWSC which was established by an Act of the Parliament (Act, 737, 2007) is mandated to ensure that decisions related to public sector salaries, wages, grading, classification, job analysis, among others, are properly managed and coordinated. It also ensures the control and coordination of public sector wage and salary negotiation.

METHODOLOGY:

Study Population:

To address the objective of the paper, eight civil service organizations and public service institutions in the Tamale Metropolis which is the capital of the Northern Region of Ghana were covered in the study. These were the Judicial Service, Audit Service, Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Local Government Service, Information Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Custom and Domestic Divisions of the Ghana Revenue Authority. Specifically, civil and public servants in administrative positions who have worked with the various organisations for at least a year were targeted through simple random sampling technique.

Data Collection Instrument:

Two sources of data were utilized in soliciting information for the study. These were both primary and secondary data. The primary data which served as the source of data for this study was obtained from respondents by the use of questionnaire. The secondary data was obtained from both published and unpublished documents including but not limited to: policy documents, journals, quarterlies and annual reports of civil and public service organisations.

DATA ANALYSIS:

Logistic Regression Model:

The data that emerged from the study were analysed by using the Logistic Regression Model developed by (MeCullagh, 1980: Agresti, 2007: DeMaris1992: Hasmer and Stanley, 2000).

The Regression analysis is a multivariate statistical methodology that investigates relationships and predicts outcomes.

Logistic regression analysis (LRA) extends the techniques of multiple regression analysis to research situations in which the outcome variable is categorical.

Regression analysis estimates an equation that describes the existing relation between one or more response variables (usually denoted by Y) and independent variable (usually denoted by X).The response or dependent variable in this work is civil and public servants’ satisfaction with the implementation of single spine pay policy which is binary (dichotomous) in nature. Since the goal of the study was to determine the level of satisfaction of civil and public servants, seven variables were used in the model as independent. For the explanatory variables (independent variables) some were continuous and others were categorical.

The independent variables used in this study include age, gender, institution and years of service.

The regression model is of the form

Where stands for the function of the independent variables as:

This is called the logit or the log odds of the dependent. Odds represent the relative frequency with which different outcomes occur. Odds are sometimes expressed as a ratio of the form a:b For example, odds of 3:1 in favor of the first outcome means that the first outcome occurs 3 times for each single occurrence of the second outcome.

The odds ratio for an event

The odds ratio clearly portrays the increased or decreased likelihood of an event outcome occurrence. If the odds ratio is less than one, there is a decreased likelihood of an event occurring and if the odds ratio is greater than one, then there will be an increased likelihood of the event occurring.

Logistic regression determines the coefficients that make the observed outcome (satisfied or not satisfied) most likely using the maximum likelihood technique.

The logistic model used was:

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Socio-demographic characteristics of study participants

Table 1: Age distribution

Age

Frequency

Percent (%)

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

50.6

26.9

8.8

13.8

Total

160

100

Source: Field survey, 2018

From the Table 1, the highest number of civil and public servants were those between the ages 20-29(50.6%) and the least were those between ages 40-49(8.8%). This means that most of the civil and public servants consist of the youth.

Table 2: Gender distribution

Gender

Frequency

Percent (%)

Male

Female

Total

160

100

Source: Field Survey, 2018

The male civil and public servants were more than their female counterparts consisting of 60% and 40% of the total respectively as depicted in Table 2.

Table 3: Type of institution

Institution

Frequency

Percent (%)

Civil service

Public service

110

31.3

68.8

Total

160

100

Source: Field Survey, 2018

The number of civil and public servants were 31.3% and 68.8% respectively

Table 4: Year of service

Years of service

Frequency

Percent (%)

1-5

6-10

11-15

15 and above

6.8

37.9

16.3

38.5

Total

160

100

Source: Field Survey, 2018

From Table 4, a significant proportion of the civil and public servants have worked for 15years and above representing 38.5%, followed by those who have worked between 6-10years (37.9). Only 6.8% of the civil and public servants have worked for between 1-5years.

Civil and Public Servants’ Expectation with the Implementation of Single Spine:

In order to measure the level of civil and public servants’ expectation on the single spine implementation, salary increases, increased allowances, improved conditions of service and improvement in paid allowances were used as indicators. The level of civil and public servants’ expectation with the implementation of single spine pay policy was measured by ratings having three grades as 1 = high, 2 = low and 3 = no expectation.

The percentages’ distribution of each rating of expectation is presented in Table 4. The highest percentage (73.8%) was civil and public servants with high expectation of salary increases. The civil and public servants (21.2%) had low expectation of salary increases. This means that the main expectation of civil and public servants with the implementation of the single spine pay policy was salary increases.

The increased allowances part shows that (60%) of the civil and public servants were optimistic of increased allowances while (35.6%) civil and public servants’ expectation was low. Further findings revealed that (58.1%) had high expectation of improved conditions of service and (36.3%) civil and public servants’ expectation was low.

The last part of level of expectation was related to the improvement in paid allowances. The results from table 4 show that (62.6%) of the civil and public servants’ level of expectation was high with (31.9%) civil and public servants having low expectation on improvement in paid allowances.

Table 5: Expectations with the Implementation of Single Spine

Level of expectation
Variable	High N (%)	Low N (%)	No N (%)
Salary increases	118 (73.8)	34 (21.2)	8 (5)
Increased allowances	96 (60)	57 (35.6)	7 (4.4)
Improved conditions of service	93 (58.1)	58 (36.3)	9 (5.6)
Improved in paid allowances	100 (62.6)	51 (31.9)	9 (5.6)

Source: Field Survey, 2018

Testing the association between expectation and institution:

In the test for the association between expectation and types of institution of civil and public servants, it was observed that for 12% of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis, the implementation of the single spine pay policy meets their expectation and 88% said it does not meet their expectation. But 22.7% of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis said it meets their expectation and 77.3% said it does not meet their expectation. We can conclude that the implementation of the single spine pay policy does not meet the expectation of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis.

From Table 6, a chi-square test of independence indicated that the null hypothesis should not be rejected since the test gives a p- value of 0.112 which was greater than the significance level of 0.05. Hence the association between expectation and type of institution is insignificant.

Table 6: Test of association between expectation and institution

General expectation
Type of institution	Yes	No	Total
Civil organisations	6(12%)	44(88%)	50
Public service	25(22.7%)	85(77.3)	110
Total	31	129	160

Chi-square value = 2.532 P-value = 0.112 Source: Field Survey, 2018

Testing the association between expectation and position:

Testing the association between expectation and position of respondent it was observed that about 16.67% of the respondent with Administrative position said “yes” to whether the implementation of the single spine meets their expectation while 83.33% said it does not meet their expectation. Also, 19.59% of civil and public servants said their expectations have been met and 80.41% said it does not meet their expectation.

From Table 7, a chi-square test of independence reveals that the null hypothesis should not be rejected since the test gives a p- value of 0.805 which was greater than the significance level of 0.05. Hence there is an insignificant association between expectation and position of civil and public servants.

Table 7: Association between expectation and position

General expectation
Position	Yes	No	Total
Administrators	2(16.67%)	10(83.33%)	12
Finances officers	29(19.59%)	119(80.41%)	148
Total	31	129	150

Chi-square value = 0.061 P-value = 0.805

Source: Field Survey

Testing the association between satisfaction and salary grade:

In the test for the association between satisfaction and salary grade, it was observed that about 52.38% of junior officers of civil and public servants were satisfied and 47.62% were not satisfied. Also about 35.21% of senior officers of civil and public servants were satisfied and 64.79% were not satisfied. 26.32% of principal officers were satisfied whiles 73.68% were not satisfied. Again, 25% of Assistant Directors of civil and public servants were satisfied and 75% were not satisfied. Finally, 21.43% of civil and public servants on the grade of directors were satisfied whiles 78.57% were not satisfied. Table 7 shows a chi-square test of independence which indicated that the null hypothesis should not be rejected since the test gives a p-value of 0.215 which was greater than the significance level of 0.05. Hence, there is an insignificant association between satisfaction and salary grade.

Table 8: Test of association between satisfaction and salary

General satisfaction
Salary grade	Yes	No	Total
Junior officers	11(52.38%)	10(47.62%)	21
Senior officers	25(35.21%)	46(64.79%)	71
Principal officers	10(26.32%)	28(73.68%)	150
Assist. Directors	4(25%)	12(75%)	16
Directors	3(21.43%)	11(78.57%)	14
Total	53	107	160

Chi-square value = 5.791 P-value = 0.215

Source: Field Survey, 2018

Testing of the Rate of Satisfaction among Public and Civil Servants:

As shown in table 9, when civil and public servants were asked about their level of satisfaction in relation to the implementation of the single spine pay policy, 1.9% said their level of satisfaction was excellent, 10% said it was very good, 26.3% indicated that it was good, 25.6% said it was satisfactory while 36.2% made no comment. This means that the level of satisfaction among civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolitan with the implementation of the single spine pay policy was encouraging.

Table 9: Test of Rate of Satisfaction among Public and Civil Servants

Rating of satisfaction	Response
Excellent	3(1.9%))
Very good	16(10)
Good	42(26.)
Satisfactory	41(25.)
No comment	58(36.)
Total	160(1)

Source: Filed Survey, 2018

Problems Associated with the Implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy:

The civil and public servants were asked about some of the problems they have identified with the implementation of the single spine pay policy. In all, 32.5% of civil and public servants identified delay in migration and payment as their problems whilst 34.4% said risk and job evaluation were their identified problems. Also 20.6% of civil and public servants identified reduction and irregularities in pay as some of the problems.

Table 10: Problems Associated with the Implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy

Identified problems	Yes	No	Total
Delay in migration and payment	52(32.5%)	108(68.5%)	160
Risk and job evaluation	55(34.4%)	105(65.6%)	160
Reduction and irregularities in pay	33(20.6%)	127(79.4%)	160

Source: Field Survey, 2018

Modelling civil and public servants satisfaction with the implementation of single spine pay policy using logistic regression.:

The analysis of the data in this section is typically based on a statistical technique called Logistic Regression Analysis Model. The independent variables used were:

· Gender

· Age

· Type of institution

· Years of service

The dependent variable was satisfaction.

The table 11 shows the effects (contributory factors) eligible for entry into the model and referenced in (Appendix A.) A detailed interpretation of the results on the effects of the significant factors is given as follows.

The significant factors are identified based on the p-value, which reflects the statistical significance of the independent variables. The five (5) variables are the factors assumed to be related to civil and public servants’ satisfaction. A significance level of 0.05 was required to allow a variable to enter into the model and a significance level of 0.05 is required for a variable to stay in the model (forward selection procedure). In this approach, an attempt was made to remove the insignificant variables from the model before adding a significant variable to the model. Each addition or deletion of a variable to or from the model was listed as a separate step in the displayed SPSS output.

In step one, variable years of service was selected into the model since it is the most significant variable among those to be chosen (P- Value<.0001). The model then contains an intercept and variable years of service. Years of service remain significant at 0.05 level, therefore years of service was not removed from the model.

Finally, none of the remaining variables met the entry criterion and forward stepwise selection is terminated. A summary of the forward stepwise selection is displayed in Table 10.

Table 11: Summary of Forward Selection

Wald

SIG.

EXP[B]

Step1

Years of service

Constant

0.081

0.092

0.031

0.272

6.781

0.115

0.009

0.735

1.084

1.097

Source: Field Survey, 2018

Table 11 shows the effects entered into the model with their entry and p-values. Statistic on the variable with its p-value was computed since the variable entered was not removed. These effects remain significant at 0.05.

Table 11 gives detailed analysis of the effects entered into the model. It shows the coefficient (estimate), the standard errors, the wald chi-square statistic and the associated p-value of the final model. The table reveals that civil and public servants’ satisfaction is affected by unmeasured factors since (p-value= <0.05). In addition, there is no evidence that age, gender, position and institution, have a strong influence on civil and public servants satisfaction with the single spine salary pay policy. On the other hand, the contributing factor found to have a severe impact on civil and public servants’ satisfaction is years of service. This variable, therefore, contributes significantly to the model at 0.05 level of significance.

Therefore the logistic regression model developed in this study is:

Where g(x) = e^{0.092+0.081(service)}is the probit.

Achievements of the Single Spine Salary Structure:

The SSSS replaced the GUSS and other forms of pay structure within the various public sector institutions. The SSSS has been hailed to have restored equity and transparency in public service pay administration. Unlike the GUSS, which was a 22-level salary structure, the SSSS is a 25-level structure.

Under the SSSS, jobs within the same job value range receive the same pay range in accordance with the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’. The value of the public sector jobs was assessed through job evaluation (JE) exercise. The process of the JE exercise involved evaluation of jobs descriptions / specifications for each job and the summing up of the evaluation points for each job to determine the ‘job worth’.

Another success that has been gained by the single spine is an increase in pay of almost all workers within the public sector which first started with the Ghana Police Service in 2010. This increase in pay simultaneously increased the purchasing power of public sector workers and thereby meeting their demands.

Following from the above, is a direct result of boosting the economic status of workers in the public sector, leading to increase GDP and per capita income. Thereby, enhancing economic growth

Challenges of the Single Spine Salary Structure:

Despite the good intentions of government and the several achievements of the single spine salary structure, it is also plagued with a number of challenges. Some public workers have expressed dissatisfaction with the SSSS with regards to its fairness, equity and transparency. Health workers, for instance, have raised genuine issues about internal relativity distortions and lack of transparency in the placement of their jobs on the SSSS. Even though re-evaluation of some of the jobs has been done, the exercise has not helped the situation any better. Apart from health workers, other public sector workers including Ghana Education Service, Civil Service and Local Government staff have also come out strongly against the SSSS, saying it is fraught with distortions and inequity.

The emerging issues point to the fact that the inherent problems with the placement of jobs on the SSSS have not been addressed satisfactorily and this has potential risk of derailing the intended objectives of the SSPP.

FINDINGS:

It was found out from the study that 60% were males and 40% were females representing a fairly gender distribution. Among the age groups, those between 20-29 years were 50.6%, 30-39 years were 26.9%, 40-49 years were 8.8%, and 50-59 years were 13.8%. Also the youngest age was 21 and the oldest was 58 with a mean and standard deviation of age being 33.76 and 9.977 respectively. With the type of institutions / organisations, 31.3% were in civil services whiles 68.7 were in public services. 7.5% of the respondents were administrators while 92.5% were civil and public servants. Also, most of the civil and public servants have worked for 15years and above representing 38.5%, followed by those between 6-10years (37.9). Only 6.8% of the civil and public servants have worked for 1-5years.

In order to measure the level of Civil and public servants’ expectation on single spine implementation, salary increases, increased allowances, improved conditions of service and improvement in paid allowances were used as indicators. The level of civil and public servants’ expectation with the implementation of single spine pay policy was measured by scale having three grades as 1 = high, 2 = low and 3 = no expectation.

The highest percentage (73.8%) was civil and public servants with high expectation of salary increases. The civil and public servants (21.2%) had low expectation of salary increases. This means that the main expectation of civil and public servants with the implementation of the single spine pay policy was salary increases.

The last part of level of expectation was asked about improvement in paid allowances. The results from the table shows that (62.6%) civil and public servants’ level of expectation were high with (31.9%) civil and public servants having low expectation on improvement in paid allowances. However, 80.6% said the policy does not meet their expectation while 19.4% said it meets their expectation. But 22.9% of males agreed that the policy meets their expectation while 87.1% said otherwise. Also, 14.1% of females said it meets their needs while 85.9% said otherwise.

In the test for the association between expectation and type of institution of civil and public servants, it has been observed that for 12% of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis, the implementation of the single spine pay policy meets their expectation and 88% said it does not meet their expectation. However, 22.7% of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis said it meets their expectation and 77.3% said it does not meet their expectation. We can conclude that the implementation of the single spine pay policy does not meet the expectation of civil and public servants in the Tamale Metropolis

It has been observed that about 52.38% of junior officers were satisfied and 47.62% were not satisfied. Also about 35.21% of senior officers civil and public servants were satisfied and 64.79% were not satisfied. 26.32% of principal officers were satisfied while 73.68% were not satisfied.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The following recommendations are for the consideration of FWSC and the government in order to improve the satisfaction level of civil and public servants in respect of the implementation of the single spine pay policy.

· The FWSC should consider its way of determining the value or worth of a job in the public service sector.

· Regular seminars and workshops should be organized to enlighten civil and public servants on the concept of single spine.

· The government on its part should recognize the pivotal role civil and public servants play and motivate them to play their role effectively.

· The FWSC should ensure that payments of allowances are evenly distributed in all sectors rather than giving some sectors advantage over others. Thus, no matter the work you do and the sector an employee belongs to, allowances should be paid at the same time and rate.

· The FWSC should develop guidelines and advise government to ensure that strict decisions are implemented on matters related to performance management indicators and associate benefits public sector workers.

REFERENCES:

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2. DeMaris, Alfred (1992). Logit modeling: Practical applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Series: Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, No. 106

3. Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (Act, 737, 2007)

4. Hosmer, D. and Stanley, L. (2000). Applied Logistic Regression. 2nd ed., NY: Wiley and Sons.

5. A much-cited treatment utilized in SPSS routines.

6. Macro for Logistic Regression. SAS Global Forum Statistics and Data Analysis. Paper 173- 2007. Accessed at http://www2.sas.com/proceedings/ forum2007/173-2007.pdf. Retrieved, 12th January, 2011.

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Received on 24.04.2020 Modified on 19.05.2020

Asian Journal of Management. 2020;11(3):321-328.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2020.00050.5