THE government will give civil servants a special additional pay rise of RM100 from January 2023, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, in an apparent move to court the public sector ahead of the next general election.

The prime minister said this pay rise will be given to civil servants from Grade 11 to Grade 56.

He also said Grade 56 and below will also receive a one-off bonus of RM700 from the government as a token of appreciation.

The Bera MP said civil service pensioners and non-pensionable armed forces veterans will also receive a RM350 pay-out.

“This will be in January 2023,” the prime minister said in Putrajaya today.

The move to pay the nation’s estimated 1.6 civil servants is expected cost the taxpayer RM1.5 billion.

Ismail has been under heavy pressure by Umno leaders to dissolve parliament and call for a general election.

Last week, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi demanded Ismail call snap polls, saying the party could win.

Ismail has kept his own counsel, saying nothing beyond telling the media to “wait”.

Ismail also announced four other perks for civil servants, including increasing the number of accumulated leave civil servants can trade for cash.

He said civil servants can now cash in a total of 180 days of unused annual leave instead of 160 days. 

“This will help them have more money when they retire,” he said. 

Ismail also said teachers with more than 10 years public sector experience will be given an additional five days of special leave, which now stands at 15 in total.

Besides this, the Umno lawmaker also announced that civil servants would be able to take unrecorded leave for the death of siblings or grandparents. 

Ismail said, previously unrecorded leave was only for the death of a spouse, parent, parent-in-law or child.

Ismail said the government has also agreed to set a new annual salary movement rate, currently at 3%. 

He said a circular on this will be issued by the Public Service Department. – August 30, 2022.