Bahrain’s Shura Council has passed a decree to regulate all civil servants, no matter which government body they work for, a report said.

It aims to give all government employees - who work for ministries or other bodies - equal salaries, allowances and performance-based incentives, according to the report published in our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News.

Council members wanted to reject the Royal decree, which was issued in 2011, twice but their votes were thwarted by Shura chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh, who withdrew it both times for further study.

However, Al Saleh did not have the right to withdraw it a third time yesterday and a vote had to be taken.

The decree was approved by a majority of members, despite opposition from several councillors. Under the decree, all civil servants would have to follow the Civil Service Bureau's rules and regulations.

It was issued because workers in government organisations and authorities earned higher wages than those in ministries.

However, the new bill will not deduct current wage arrangements given to employees in those government bodies and will only be implemented on new recruits.

Council legislative and legal affairs committee vice-chairman Jameela Nusaif said the decree was issued to bridge the gap between salaries given to civil servants.

"There was a huge gap between payments for the same titles in ministries and authorities and a line of unfairness existed," she said. "The decree ensures equality before fairness and in the future there could be pay rises that would give more to all and not particular government individuals."

Council first vice-chairman Jamal Fakhro earlier said the decree was not a solution for the ongoing gap between civil servants. He claimed it was issued for a political purpose, due to the 2011 unrest, and has taken the country backward instead of helping it develop. Bahrain has 23 authorities that are independent of ministries, but come under the responsibility of a government minister. – TradeArabia News Service