STEPPING UP OF SENIOR AT PAR WITH JUNIOR

STEPPING UP OF SENIOR AT PAR WITH JUNIOR

Stepping up of pay to remove anomalies :

Stepping up of pay of  a senior at par with his junior to remove anomalies arising out of application of the following rules is permissible under specific orders subject to conditions specified as follows…

If the anomaly is due to fixation of pay in the revised scales under sub-rule 7 of CCS (RP) Rules, 2008, the pay of the senior will be stepped up to the same stage in the revised pay band as that of junior.

In the case of senior promoted prior to 1-1-2006, vis-a-vis his junior promoted subsequent to that date in the revised pay structure under CCS (RP) Rules, stepping up should be done with effect from the date of promotion of the junior subject to fulfilment of the conditions stipulated under Note 10 of Rule 7 of CCS (RP) Rules, 2008.

In cases where two existing scales, one being a promotional scale for the other, are merged, and the junior, now drawing his pay at equal or lower stage in the lower scale of pay, happens to draw more pay in the pay band in the revised pay structure than the pay of the senior in the existing higher scale, the pay in the pay band of the senior shall be stepped up to that of his junior from the same date and he shall draw next increment in accordance with Rule 10.

Conditions:-

Both the senior and junior employees should belong to same cadre and the posts to which they have been promoted or appointed should be identical and in the same cadre.

The junior and the senior should have held identical scales in the lower post should hold identical scales in the higher post.

The stepping up of pay is admissible with reference to the first junior (not necessarily immediate junior) on only one occasion; but if the junior concerned gets his pay stepped up at par with one junior to him, then the pay of the senior may again be stepped up.

The junior should not have been drawing more pay than the senior from time to time in the lower post.

The anomaly should be directly as a result of the application of FR 22 (1) (a) (1).  For example, if even in the lower post the junior official draws from time to time to a higher rate of pay then the senior by virtue of grant of advance increments or on any other accounts the above provisions will be invoked to step up the pay of the seniors.

It has been clarified by the GOI  DOPT  New Delhi vide their no.4/7 /92/Estt. (Pay-I) dated 04-11-1993 that the stepping  up in the following cases are not admissible.

Where the senior proceeds on EOL which results in postponement of increment in the lower  post, consequently he starts drawing less pay than his juniors in the lower grade itself.  He, therefore, cannot claim pay parity on promotion even though he may be promoted earlier to the higher grade.

If a senior foregoes/refuses promotion leading to his juniors being promoted/appointed to the higher post earlier junior draws higher pay then the senior.  The senior may be on deputation while junior avails of the Ad-hoc promotion in the cadre.  The increased pay drawn by a junior either due to ad-hoc/officiating/regular service rendered in the higher posts for periods earlier than the senior, cannot, therefore be as anomaly in strict sense of the     term.

a) If a senior join  the higher post later than the junior for what so ever reasons, whereby he draws less pay  than the junior, in such cases senior cannot  claim stepping up of  pay at par with the juniors.

b) If a senior is appointed later than the junior in the lower post itself whereby he is in receipt of lesser pay than the junior, in such cases the senior cannot claim pay parity in the higher post though he may have been promoted earlier to the higher post.

c) Where a person is promoted from lower to higher  post, his pay is fixed     with reference to the pay drawn by him in the lower post under FR 22(1) (A) (1) and he is likely to get more pay than a direct appointed whose pay is fixed under different set of rules, for example a UDC on promotion to the post of Assistant get his pay fixed under FR 22 (1) (a) (i) with reference to the pay drawn in the UDC scale whereas the pay of the Assistant (directly recruited) is fixed normally at the minimum under Rule 22-B (2).  In such cases  the  senior  direct  recruit  cannot  claim pay parity with the junior promoted  from a  lower  post to  a higher post as seniority alone is not a criteria for allowing stepping up of Pay.

d)Where a junior get more pay due to additional increment earned on acquiring higher qualifications.

In the instances referred to above, a junior drawing more pay than the senior will not constitute any anomaly and therefore stepping up of pay in such cases are not admissible.