8th Pay Commission: Up to 3.25 fitment factor & 5% annual increment among many demands of this central govt employee body

The Federation of National Postal Organisation (FNPO) has sent a letter to the National Council (Joint Consultative Machinery, Staff Side) related to its demands fot salary and pension revision in the 8th Pay Commission (8th CPC). In its letter, FNPO has proposed multi-level fitment factors, ranging from 3.0 to 3.25, applicable to Group A, B, C and D postal employees. Here are its proposed fitment factors for different levels of employees.

FNPO has demanded a uniform factor of 3.00 for lower-end employees, where it says, the erosion of real wages has been the most severe.

The postal employee body has demanded slightly higher fitment factors (3.05 to 3.10) for its middle-level employees. It says that such a fitment factor should be applied to maintain horizontal and vertical relativities.

It has demanded for a 3.05 fitment factor for Level 13 and 13A employees and a 3.15 fitment factor for Level 14 and 15 employees.

It has demanded for a 3.2 fitment factor for Level 16 employees, while a 3.25 fitment factor for Level 17 and 18 employees.

“Incrementally higher factors are applied only at the very top, to preserve hierarchical coherence within the pay matrix and to avoid compression-induced anomalies,” FNPO writes in its letter, justifying its demand for higher fitment factors for these three groups.​

Another important proposal that FNPO has made is to increase the current 3% annual increment limit to 5%.

FNPO says that a 5% annual salary increment would ensure visible and meaningful financial progression, reduce stagnation-related dissatisfaction, and bring government pay structures closer to those prevailing in other organised sectors.

FNPO has also requested the government to continue with the 7th Pay Commission matrix system which is said to have brought greater clarity and predictability in pay fixation and progression, reducing avoidable pay disputes and anomalies.

In the 7th CPC pay matrix system, the basic pay of every level of employee was categorised into various sub-pay scales based on their annual increments. It helps every employee know the exact amount of their basic pay after every increment.