The Gender Ministry has denied media reports that suggest that the salaries of social workers at the Ministry and other social services workers have been slashed due to the change in the pay structure for health sector workers.
In a statement, the Ministry said that as part of the pay harmonization work, this administration has compiled a professional structure that has eased long-term concerns surrounding the salary structure for social services workers in the country and that this has brought positive changes to the salaries of these workers.
The Ministry further said that social workers have now been a professionally ranked field of work and that it has been accepted as such.
It said that social workers were earning a monthly income of MVR 15,000 and that too with overtime. The Ministry said that their pay has now been upgraded by 67 percent and their take-home pay has now reached MVR 21,585 without overtime.
The Gender Ministry said that with the pay harmonization, this positive change in salaries has been enjoyed by 137 employees working in this field.
The media reports on the matter said that while the income of social workers has been slashed, concern was mounting among workers about the change in pay structure.
