A PAPHOS councilor has suggested municipality staff in Paphos have overtime and bonuses reduced, a move that would save €200,000 a year.
“In 2011, we paid far too much in overtime and bonuses - it was close to €400,000,” Nikos Konnikos said this week.
He stressed it was important for the municipality to cut these costs, which last year reached €370,000.
“I am suggesting on the issue of overtime 50 per cent would be given to staff as a day off and fifty per cent would be with pay. This is on top of the twenty five percent cut in overtime across the board, which we have decided to implement.”
The councilor has also proposed the notion of outsourcing some jobs, which he says will help to give more people employment, such as parking stewards for events at the harbour who are usually municipality staff. “Anyone can do this job,” he said and most of those doing so at the moment are paid overtime for it.
He said there are other “bad practices” which need to be stamped out, such as when the municipality employs staff, they are supposed to carry out their specific work but are also required to help in other departments if needed. “Staff shouldn’t get paid extra for this. If I had a large store, I wouldn’t pay a staff member on top of his salary to work in a different section, during working hours. It’s very silly.”
“Things need to be fair for everyone involved,” he said.
A vote on the proposals will be taken at the next meeting of the personnel committee of the municipality of Paphos in the coming weeks.