Kuala lumpur: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the government to review the proposal to increase the hotel accommodation allowance for civil servants, citing rising costs. Its president, Datuk Dr Adnan Mat, stated that the current allowance is insufficient, as hotel rates have nearly doubled compared to the allowance provided, which has not been revised in the past 15 years.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Cuepacs is calling for an expedited review to ensure the welfare of civil servants, particularly those stationed in remote areas like Terengganu and Kelantan. Dr. Adnan made these remarks after officiating the 17th Triennial General Meeting of the KADA Staff Union 2025 at their headquarters today.

In addition to the hotel allowance issue, Cuepacs has proposed three key suggestions regarding the regrading of administrative assistant positions under the Civil Service Remuneration System (SSPA). Dr. Adnan emphasized the critical role administrative assistants play in the operations of government departments, ministries, and agencies, yet noted that they have not been regraded under the current SSPA framework.

Cuepacs has proposed upgrading the administrative assistant position from grade N1 directly to N5. If financial constraints make this challenging, they suggest a one-off payment as an alternative. Another proposal includes raising the grade from N1 to N5 or up to N8 throughout their service, with the position reverting to N1 upon retirement.

On the matter of public service integrity, Dr. Adnan encouraged government staff to focus on improving service quality in line with recent salary increases and the additional increase scheduled for early next year.