The National Personnel Authority will soon recommend a reduction in winter bonuses for national civil servants, which is likely to lead to the largest contraction ever in their annual bonuses, sources said.
The step is expected to result in a cut of 0.35 month's worth of salary, the largest yearly reduction since the authority recommended a 0.3 month cut in fiscal 1999.
It is also planning to trim civil servants' monthly pay for the first time in four years, by up to 0.2 percent, the sources said.
The move follows a contraction of 0.2 month's worth of salary in summer bonuses based on a May proposal and will mark an additional 0.15 cut to their winter bonuses.
The personnel authority decided to go ahead with the latest cuts after a review of private-sector monthly payments found that the average monthly pay for national civil servants was ¥1,000 higher than that for private-sector employees.