The 8th Pay Commission is deliberating on how much the salaries of government employees and pensioners will increase. Central government employees are eagerly waiting for the update regarding the increase in their salaries. In such a situation, it becomes important to know about the fitment factor. The fitment factor is the multiplier that the new CPC uses to calculate the new basic salary. The 8th Pay Commission will take into account many factors including inflation to decide the fitment factor.
Why is fitment factor important?
Fitment factor is used to revise the salary, pension and allowances of government employees. It is an essential multiplier that determines the salary and pension levels for government employees. The fitment factor is determined by considering various factors such as inflation, employee needs and financial capacity of the government.
How does fitment factor affect your salary?
The salary structure for central government employees is currently based on the fitment factor of the 7th Pay Commission, which was implemented in 2016. The Commission had used a fitment factor of 2.57. However, this does not mean that salaries increased by 2.57 times; Instead, this factor was added to the basic salary, increasing it to a minimum of ₹18,000.
Meanwhile, the Dearness Allowance (DA) is reset to zero at the beginning of each new commission as the base index is recalculated. Therefore, the actual increase in salary under the 7th Pay Commission was 14.3 percent.
What are the 18 levels of government employees?
Level 1: Entry-Level/Group D Employees
Level 29: Group C Employee
Level 1012: Group B Employee
Level 1318: Group A Employee
Group A employees include top level government officials including cabinet secretaries.
How is fitment factor calculated?
An important factor in deciding the 8th Pay Commission salary hike is the fitment factor, which determines how much the total salary will increase. However, for the past several months, unconfirmed reports regarding an increase in the fitment factor have been circulating online. Government employees are advised to wait for the official notification for updates regarding the fitment factor. The pay increase under the 8th Pay Commission will be calculated using the formula given below…
Revised Basic Salary = Existing Basic Salary x Fitment Factor
Under the 7th Pay Commission, the basic salary was as follows:
Level 1: ₹18,000
Level 5: ₹29,200
Level 10: ₹56,100
Level 15: ₹1,82,200
Level 18: ₹2,50,000
While there is no official confirmation yet on the fitment factor, here are three possible scenarios for it and what your salary would look like.
If the fitment factor remains 2.57…
| level range | Basic Pay Range (in Rs) |
| L1 to L4 | 46,260 to 65,535 |
| L5 to L8 | 75,044 to 1,22,332 |
| L9 to L12 | 1,36,467 to 2,02,516 |
| L13 to L13A | 3,16,367 to 3,36,927 |
| L14 to L18 | 3,70,594 to 6,42,500 |
If fitment factor remains 3…
| level range | Basic Pay Range (in Rs) |
| L1 to L4 | 54,000 to 76,500 |
| L5 to L8 | 87,600 to 1,42,800 |
| L9 to L12 | 1,59,300 to 2,36,400 |
| L13 to L13A | 3,69,300 to 3,93,300 |
| L14 to L18 | 4,32,600 to 7,50,000 |
If the fitment factor remains 3.68…
| level range | Basic Pay Range (in Rs) |
| L1 to L4 | 58,500 to 94,900 |
| L5 to L8 | 1,15,050 to 1,82,325 |
| L9 to L12 | 2,20,025 to 2,56,100 |
| L13 to L13A | 4,00,075 to 4,26,075 |
| L14 to L18 | 4,68,650 to 8,12,500 |
What is included in salary?
The salary of a government employee includes basic pay, dearness allowance (DA), house rent allowance (HRA), and transport allowance. The share of basic salary in the total income is 51.5%, while the share of DA is about 30.9%, HRA is about 15.4% and transport allowance is about 2.2%.