100 public sector staff await wages
About one hundred temporary employees of the Labour Ministry have not been paid their salaries for March, reportedly as a result of a new payment method, which the employees claim is not working because the government has run out of cash.
They say the new GFMIS (Government Fiscal Management Information System) payment system is failing to function properly because the government is lacking treasury reserves that are needed before pay day every month to keep the payroll procedure operating properly.The previous payment method, handled by the Comptroller General's Department, required a multi-step procedure which took time but was almost never late. The GFMIS is a newly introduced system, which is technically more reliable, but requires a minimal amount of treasury reserves in the coffers of each agency to allow it function efficiently. An employee who asked not to be named said she had not received her salary for March and had been forced to arrange a high-interest loan to cover her expenses. "I believe the government is now broke because a lot of money has been wasted on populist policies," she said. "The April 2 election alone required Bt2.2 billion, not to mention the large number of by-elections and Senate election." She said her superiors at the ministry had promised to get Bt7 million to pay all 100 employees before the Songkran holiday break. "But I don't think that will be possible," she said. The woman claimed her friends working as temporary employees at other ministries were having the same problem, but were afraid to approach their superiors or make public their grievance.
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