The federal government has doubled overtime pays for thousands of drivers employed in the public sector as inflation eats into their salaries.

Mekuria Haile (PhD), head of the Civil Service Commission, told the administrators of 185 federal agencies last week about the adjustment made on overtime pays.

Mekuria was appointed to head the Commission last year, replacing the veteran Bezabih Gebreyes. He had previously served as a minister of Urban Development and Executive Director of the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute. Studied his doctoral degree in South Korea, Mekuria also served as a general manager of the Addis Abeba city administration.

Mekuria’s recent decision to pay drivers more comes three years after the Council of Ministers issued a regulation granting his office the authority to adjust the overtime compensation rate. Chauffeurs assigned to senior officials have seen overtime pay increase to 1,500 Br a month, while compensation for other drivers is 200 Br less. An estimated five percent of Ethiopia’s 1.3 million civil servants are employed as drivers.

The federal government spends one percent of its budget on public service wages. However, drivers are among the least paid civil servants. First entry salaries stand at nearly 2,300 Br, and chauffeurs are entitled to 600 Br a month in per diem payments.

Alemu Deribe, 54, has worked as a driver for three federal agencies over the past three decades. A father of four, who earns a 4,600 Br monthly gross salary, Alemu is assigned to chauffeur a senior advisor at the Ministry of Culture & Sports, under Kejella Merdassa.

Paying overtime compensation to the civil service, including drivers, is uncommon in most public institutions. Forty-one of the 767 employees working for the Ministry of Justice are drivers. They rarely receive overtime pays, according to Nigussie Tenkolu, director of human resources.

“The recurrent budget allocated to the Ministry is limited,” said Nigussie.

The federal government has earmarked 615 million Br for the Ministry’s recurrent expenditure this year, accounting for over a third of the budget.

Gideon Befekadu, finance director at the Ministry of Water & Energy, tells the same story. Only chauffeurs assigned to senior officials receive overtime pay, Gideon told Fortune.

“We should be paid overtime just like any other civil servant,” said Alemu.

Alemayehu Mengistu, head of the commissioner’s office, concedes overtime pays for public service employees is inadequate to cover the runaway cost of living. It is also subject to income tax.