Difficulties in hiring due to low pay: HRCM

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has said that it is facing challenges in hiring new people due to low salaries offered to commission employees.

Senior officials of HRCM were summoned to Parliament's Human Rights and Gender Committee today to discuss the commission's annual reports from 2022 and 2023.

Speaking at the committee meeting, HRCM President Mariyam Muna said that it has been 12 years since any change was brought to staff pay structure.

"Even if our salaries are high when compared to the Civil Service, the commission's pay structure has not had any changes when you view it against the changes that have come to the pay framework of other independent institutions," she said.

Muna said that the pay received by employees at other independent institutions formed within the past twelve years is much higher than that of HRCM employees. She said that this poses challenges in hiring new staff, and retention of staff without them moving to other insitutions.

"A lot of our staff have gone on to join newly formed [independent] institutions," Muna said.

Although much of the funds received by the commission from international funds is spent on trainings for staff, she said that due to the current pay framework, there is nothing to motivate even indispensable staff to remain with HRCM.

Earlier, a job vacancy announcement from HRCM would see 70 to 100 applications come in, Muna said, while the number has decreased to below 10 now. In fact, some positions, especially legal, research and monitoring positions, fail to get any applicants at all. She says that this is because such positions at other institutions come with a higher pay.

The commission also spoke of space constraints.

At present, the commission has a team of 84 persons. This includes 81 staff working in Male', who are confined to a 6000 sqft workspace. HRCM is currently located in a floor at the Star Cinema building.

"As a result, we have to hire halls for every event, every training. Such expenses are really high," she said.

Further, Muna revealed that there is a fungus issue in the HRCM office premises, which has caused health issues for many employees.

"There is a ventilation and air purification issue so we have been requesting for a different office space. We have spoken to the Finance Ministry about this as well, and have submitted a request alongside budget details," she said.

HRCM members also shared challenges they face as the commission is not independent in relation to budget, and also challenges faced through the law as it stands now.