Johannesburg - Striking SA Revenue Service (Sars) employees have started voting on a R500 million salary increase offer that could see their salaries increase by between R120 and R950 a month, depending on pay grade.
The taxman has received approval from the National Treasury to offer its workers R430m for a once-off payment and R70m as a salary adjustment.
Salary increases across nine grades will be implemented and backdated to April 1 if Sars staff accept their employer’s offer.
This amounts to a 1.39% salary increase and a 8.63% once-off payment will be paid to all employees, who are demanding a 12% salary increase across the board.
According to the offer, grade 1 A will receive an increase of R117.91 per month and grade 1 will receive R284.69, while grades 2 and 3A will be paid R262.63 and R328.18, respectively.
The offer also states that employees paid at grade 3B will receive R392.78, grade 4A will receive R416.22, while grade 4B will increase by R483. Grades 5B and 6 will get pay hikes of R729.13 and R946.81, respectively.
Sars released the actual increases it was offering its staff following a request by the Public Servants Association (PSA), one of the unions representing the striking employees.
The PSA said it wanted to consider the offer and commence with the mandating process.
However, despite Sars’ offer, the PSA has told its members that the lunch-hour picketing will continue and should the offer be rejected by the majority of workers the strike will continue.
Sars made the offer after negotiations deadlocked last week, forcing unions to issue a notice to embark on strike action after the employer maintained its 0% offer.
Last Thursday, Sars confirmed that it had received approval from the National Treasury to utilise savings of R430m from the 2021/22 financial year for a once-off payment to employees and another R70m available from the 2022/23 for salary adjustments to the guaranteed total remuneration packages for employees in the bargaining unit.