The National Personnel Authority on Tuesday recommended bonus reductions and a freeze on central government employees' basic monthly salaries, which would reduce government employees' annual income over the previous year for the second consecutive year.

The authority recommended to the Diet and the Cabinet that the government refrain from increasing employees' basic monthly salaries in order to keep government salaries in line with those in the private sector, which are lower due to sluggish economic conditions, authority officials said.

However, the recommendation excludes the annual increase in employees' basic salaries based on the length of time served.

It would be the first time that a freeze was placed on basic salaries since the current payment system was introduced in fiscal 1960, the officials said.

The authority also recommended that central government employees have their bonuses reduced from the current equivalent of 4.95 months' salary to 4.75 months' worth, the officials said.

If the government carries out the recommendations, the average income of a public servant aged 40.5 would be 6,319,000 yen a year, down some 69,000 yen, or 1.1 percent, from the current average.

With the difference between average salaries in the private and public sectors at 0.12 percent, the authority decided against recommending an increase in basic government salaries and instead suggested additional family allowances for government employees with children.

The authority has proposed increasing the amount of such allowances by an average of 0.12 percent, or 434 yen a month, the officials said.

About 40 percent of government employees are eligible for family allowances, according to the officials.

Under the recommendation, a government employee with one or two children would receive 6,000 yen a month per child, up from the current 5,500 yen, and 3,000 yen a month for the third child, up from 2,000 yen, officials said.