Anambra Govt Cuts Salaries Over Sit-at-Home Monday Absences

)AFRICAN EXAMINER) — The Anambra State Government has begun deducting salaries of civil servants who failed to report to work on Mondays due to the sit-at-home order in the South-East.

The state government had earlier warned in January that it would introduce a pro-rata payment system. Under the policy, workers who do not show up for duty on Mondays would have their salaries reduced based on the number of days missed.

On Tuesday, many civil servants at the Jerome Udoji State Secretariat in Awka expressed shock over the large deductions from their February salaries. Some workers said the amount deducted did not match the number of Mondays they were absent.

One worker, who asked not to be named, said a colleague received only N100 as salary after deductions. The worker, a staff member of the Ministry of Information, said he received just N3,500 out of his usual salary of over N80,000.

According to him, some workers who missed work only once or twice also had large amounts deducted from their pay.

When contacted, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Law Mefor, confirmed that the deductions were meant as punishment for failing to report to work on Mondays.

He explained that workers were instructed to clock in and clock out on Mondays as proof of attendance. He said any worker who failed to do so would be treated as absent, even if they claimed to have come to work.

The government maintains that the policy is aimed at ensuring compliance with official working days despite the sit-at-home order.

Short URL: https://www.africanexaminer.com/?p=106008