Demotion For Some Contract Dentists Offered Permanent Posts

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The affected dental officers stand to lose their entertainment allowance and their annual increment will also see a drop.PETALING JAYA: Many contract dental officers offered permanent posts recently have been told that they will be going back to their entry grade upon acceptance of the offer.
In the offer letter to the 300 successful dentists recently, the Public Services Commission (PSC) said they would be placed on the starting grade of UG41 even if they had already been promoted to UG44 as a contract officer.
“The head of department will decide on the starting salary of the dentists, which will be based on the last drawn basic salary of the officer under the contract service, provided the amount is in order,” it said.
The basic salary scale of UG41 is from RM2,844 to RM9,656 while it is from RM3,611 to RM10,560 for those in UG44.
But these officers get extra allowances for housing and entertainment, which can add up to between RM900 and RM1,500, depending on the grade.
According to a dentist, the affected officers in the various WhatsApp chat groups were all unsure how and which rung of the UG41 salary scale they would be placed under once they were “downgraded”.
“We are assuming that if one is earning a basic salary of RM4,000 in UG44, the dental officer will be placed on a salary of RM4,000 in the UG41 grade after he is demoted upon being offered a permanent post.
“But what about the entertainment allowance of RM400, which is only given to UG44 officers? Those in UG41 are not entitled to this, so will they still get it? This does not make sense at all,” he told FMT.
Another officer said the annual increment changes from grade to grade. For UG41, it is RM225 per year while it is RM250 for UG44, adding that their pensions and gratuities would be affected in the long run.
“So, do we all take a pay cut and a demotion just because we are being offered permanent positions? We just hope the government will look at this major anomaly that is such a dampener,” he said. - FMT

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