Judiciary employees wear all black to protest salary issue

With the amendment brought to the State's Pay Framework last month by the government, employees in the legal sector have said that they are seeing a decrease in their salary this month. In order to express their dissatisfaction, the employees are attending their offices in all-black attire as a sign of silent protest.

It has been made known to Mihaaru News that employees working at the High Court, Drug Court, Civil Court, Family Court, Juvenile Court and Magistrate Court's in some islands went to work today dressed in black attire.

Employees from Sh. Milandhoo Magistrate Court, Sh. Funadhoo Magistrate Court, B. Kihaadhoo Magistrate Court and Dh. Kudahuvadhoo Magistrate Court took part in the silent protest.

It is known that employees working in the judiciary sector are preparing a petition to be sent to the President's Office today.

Since the state's Pay Framework came into effect in 2022, the Finance Ministry said that most state employees will see a pay increase from this month onward.

While employees from the judiciary sector have said that their salaries have reduced, and even though employees from some courts went out to protest today, the National Pay Commission told Mihaaru News last Thursday that the judiciary sector's pay would not fall. A senior official of the commission said that some special allowances have been arranged as well.

The allowance is, as per the official, the "Judiciary Continuity Allowance".

"The cases that are on the agenda on the day should finish on the day itself. Only then and after administrative processes have concluded can the judge and other employees go home. There are benefits that have been determined for such individuals who have to stay back at work," said the Pay Commission's official.

As per the official, the changes that will occur to legal sector employee salary increases have been looked into with great detail. But, the official states that a wrong picture is being painted after calculations are done without including the special circumstance allowance. 

While answering questions regarding statements of the decrease in salaries for legal employees working in the legal sector, the Pay Commission official stated that those individuals have always been "privileged" when it comes to their salary. With that, the commission stated that there may be salary differences as administrative employees in courts saw increases in their salaries.

"Some administrative employees have been working with a very low salary. They were working while they were underpaid. However, we are now seeing great progress in their salaries. We did not bring such a change to the salaries of legal individuals, thus the difference. But, we have given salary increases to legal individuals in the past," said the Pay Commission's official.

As per the government, there will be no employee with a base remuneration less than MVR 7,400 from this month onward. The Pay Commission has said that there are some employees who have had a base salary of MVR 3,100 until now.

With the new framework however, employees from some sectors have said that their salaries have decreased, even though the government said there would be increases. Regarding this issue, the Pay Commission has said that this difference is because of the change that was brought to giving overtime pay without limit.