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CEB staff asks for assurance they will retain their benefits
View(s):By Namini Wijedasa
Members of an internal Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) “Power Sector Reform Integration Committee” (PSRIC) have written to the utility’s chairman seeking assurance that employees will retain their many benefits even after the institution is restructured.
These include a sprawling list of “allowance benefits” approved by Cabinet in 2008 and granted to all CEB employees for a range of duties that fit their job descriptions – such as an “incentive allowance for correct meter reading”, “hotline allowance”, “station allowance paid to staff who are working in the Nuwara Eliya area” and “one-time and monthly allowance for implementing the Language Policy”.
The other benefits sought to be retained are the professional allowance, the semi-professional allowance, the post-graduate degree allowance, the “exodus allowance”, the generation allowance, the disturbance allowance, the remote station allowance, the allowance paid to “FM, AFMM and DFMM” (finance, additional finance and deputy finance managers), the special allowance for cashier clerks and Shroff, and an allowance for typists who are qualified to type in more than one language.
There is also the uniform allowance for security personnel, the station allowance for circuit bungalow keepers, the allowance for circuit bungalow keepers for the assistance of a helper, the special allowance for secretaries, project allowance, the “personnel allowance for personnel [sic] assistance to GM [general manager]”, special allowance to chief clerks (special grade and above) attached to offices of senior executive officers of class 1 or above, incentive allowance for deputy general manager (personnel) and inducement allowance (shift allowance).
Also under allowances are another set of benefits: hardship allowance for employees at thermal power plants; special allowance for Corporate Strategy Division executive staff; engineers’ allowance; system control allowance; transmission and generation planning allowance; allowance for investigation officers and investigation assistance; allowance given to academic and supporting staff attached to Training Branch; occupational health and safety allowance; qualification-based incentive allowance for Occupation Health and Safety Branch; allowance given to Lakvijaya power plant; and “temporary allowance”.
The PSRIC represents unions and groups within the CEB. It is tasked with working with the Power Sector Reform Committee (a statutory body set up after the passing of the Sri Lanka Electricity Act last year) to ensure smooth transitioning during the restructuring process.
While the initial proposal was to divide the CEB into 12 separate companies, the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Act passed in August 2025 will now see it split into five state-owned enterprises.
In a letter to CEB Chairman Udayanga Hemapala – who is also PSRIC chair as well as Energy Ministry Secretary – 13 members of the PSRIC proposes the establishment of an “enhanced and transparent employee Benefits scheme which were enjoyed within the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) as part of the ongoing reform process and in alignment with the provisions of the Electricity Act No. 36 of 2024.”
“The committee observed that CEB Employees should receive all the benefits currently enjoyed, as per for provisions of the Act on terms and conditions not less favourable than those enjoyed by them on the day preceding the appointed date under their contract of employment with the Ceylon Electricity Board through the HR [human resources] policy to be implanted as part of the Transfer Plan,” the letter states.
- Outside of the allowances, there are salaries “and other related benefits” and a medical scheme for employees and dependents (including a one-time payment for critical illness and operations).
- Concessionary loan facilities are: vehicle loan, distress loan, EPF loan, 2/3 reimbursement for loans, service connection loan, solar loan and school books loan.
- There are reimbursement benefits for subscription paid for professional institutes; renewal fee of driving licence for drivers; leave and reimbursement of fees to follow exams/courses; and reimbursement of government medical examination fees for the confirmation of service.
- Transport benefits, meanwhile, are a separate category. They comprise free-of-charge transport facilities to staff of power stations in remote areas (from building sites to power stations and selected cities, on a weekly or monthly); transport facilities for staff working on a shift basis at power stations in selected cities, “enabling them to attend duties on time”; transport facilities to remote power stations “to fulfill the basic needs of the staff”; and private mileage and travel to residence facilities of senior executives.
- “Other benefits” are uniforms, protective clothing and shoes; hygiene and sanitary facilities; accommodation “for required staff” [sic]; circuit bungalows; communication facilities; vehicle permit facility; grant for employee death to cover funeral expenses; foreign and local training, seminars, etc.
It was not immediately clear what decision would be taken regarding this request. “It is important to emphasise the need to address the issue here promptly, while recognising the service of CEB employees and improving employee motivation, productivity, and overall performance through the transparent implementation of the proposed HR policy,” the letter to Prof Hemapala urges.
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