Surviving as a salaried employee in Sri Lanka in 2024 is a challenge. The government always receives a large serving of the blame when it comes to living expenses. However, it has actually thrown a lifeline or two our way over the years, Budgetary relief allowances are two of them.
There are two budgetary relief allowances, payrollers have started referring to them as Budgetary Relief Allowances 1 and 2 or BRA 1 and BRA 2 for short. August 1, 2005, 23rd March, 2016
Budgetary Relief Allowance 1
There are two conditions that determine the first budgetary relief allowance. BRA1 aims to raise your take-home salary by 1000 rupees or whatever amount that helps you hit a total of 21,000 rupees
Conditions you need to satisfy
- If the basic salary of an employee is less than or equal to 20,000, then the Budgetary relief allowance will be 1,000 LKR
- If the basic salary of an employee is greater than 20,000 but less than 21,000, the budgetary relief allowance will be the difference between 21,000 and the basic salary (21,000 – basic salary = B.R. Allowance 1)
The resulting amount is Budgetary relief allowance 1 (1000)
Budgetary Relief Allowance 2 –
There are conditions that determine the value of the second budgetary relief allowance. BRA1 aims to raise your take-home salary a further 1500 or 2500 rupees or whatever amount that helps you hit a total of 41,500 rupees
Conditions you need to satisfy
- If the basic salary of an employee is less than or equal to 40,000, then the Budgetary relief allowance will be 1,500 LKR
- If the basic salary of an employee is greater than 40,000 but less than 41,500, the budgetary relief allowance will be the difference between 41,500 and the basic salary (41,500 – basic salary = B.R. Allowance)
- Making the 1000 –
- If the basic salary of an employee is less than or equal to 40,000, then the Budgetary relief allowance will be 1,000 LKR
The total of the two is Budgetary relief allowance 2 (2500)
The Labour Department would appreciate it if you could depict the payment of these budgetary relief allowances in the paysheets and payslips the employee receives when they are applied. In fact, you might be even asked to show evidence of such payments if an inquiry arises.
However, Budgetary relief allowances are still considered as parts of the basic salary and will be given the same treatments as you would for a basic salary in different calculations like no pay, overtime, or prorated salary payments.
One could argue whether such allowances can actually provide relief to a modern-day Sri Lankan worker. Especially with the increased VAT, consumers grappling with the increased cost of essential goods as January 2024 rolled in. However, such small relief attempts really do accumulate to make an underpaid worker survive another month amidst these difficult times
