SearchArchives for October 2008
28 October, 2008UNITED KINGDOM
Study shows more conflict in PS offices
Public Sector employees were more likely to encounter conflict in the workplace than their private sector counterparts, a report has found.
Fight, Flight or Face It, published by the business psychology firm OPP in association with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has found there was more conflict in the Public Sector workplace than in the private sector where conflict was better managed.
It found more than a third of Public Sector employees had to deal with conflict either frequently or constantly, compared with only 23 per cent in the private sector.
The study also found that Public Sector workers were more likely to see poor leadership from the top and a lack of resources as major causes of workplace conflict.
The survey revealed that 27 per cent of Public Sector managers said they did not manage conflict very well, compared with 23 per cent of overall responses.
This was despite Public Sector managers receiving higher levels of training than their private sector counterparts. It found that three quarters of senior Public Sector leaders had had conflict management training, compared to 67 per cent on average. Similarly, 81 per cent of line managers have had relevant training, compared to 73 per cent on average.
The survey also showed that 11 per cent of recent conflicts in the Public Sector took more than 10 days to resolve, twice as long as in the private sector.
Director of Research and Policy at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Linda Holbeche, said conflict management should be an integral part of leadership and management training.
“Conflict is an inevitable part of the workplace and can be very damaging and costly if not managed properly,’’ Ms Holbeche said.
“Managers must be able to identify the early signs of conflict and intervene and diffuse situations before they escalate if teams are to work productively and harmoniously. “Managers must also manage under-performance firmly and fairly, as well as pick-up on banter when it starts to become bullying or when workloads become excessive,” Ms Holbeche said.
28 October, 2008
INDIA
Reserve bank strikes for pensions
The staff and management of India’s Reserve Bank have gone on strike to win better pensions.
The first unified strike by both management and employees in 13 years almost brought the country’s financial system to a halt.
The one-day strike by 21,000 employees of the Reserve Bank of India disrupted financial transactions and forced the Government bond market to close.
Spread across more than 20 offices around the nation, the employees took the action to win pension parity with Government employees and the automatic revision of pensions when pay scales were adjusted.
According to the central bank’s website the employees took “mass casual leave”.
The United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees, which called the strike, accused the bank of planning to drastically reduce pension benefits for its employees.
A spokesman for the bank declined to comment on the walkout but on its website the RBI branded the strike “illegal”.
“Such action on their part amounts to cessation of work and concerted refusal to work,” the RBI said in a statement.
“Apart from such action being uncalled for, in the absence of due notice, it amounts to an illegal strike.”
The strike by the Reserve Bank staff also hit payment and settlement operations in India's financial centre Mumbai.
The RBI also took the step of asking the public to complete their transactions early because the strike was likely to cause some disruption to its normal work.
28 October, 2008
IRELAND
Staff losses to pay for payrise
Public Sector unions in Ireland fear staff numbers were set to fall because Departments and Agencies were being forced to fund payrises from existing Budgets.
The Unions have accused the Government of failing to release money to meet pay increases under a new national agreement.
They say Departments would be forced to cut jobs because they will not be able to fit current staffing numbers in their current budgets.
“Government Departments have been told they will have to meet a 3.5 per cent pay increase for employees from their existing allocations,” the unions said.
“They will have to meet the costs of the pay increase by reducing staff numbers though retirement and non-replacement.”
They say the decision placed further risks on the unions approving the national pay agreement.
The unions also expected the Government to launch another drive to reduce numbers by implementing a targeted redundancy and early retirement program but any action to reduce numbers would only take place after a Government taskforce presented its recommendations for action.
The taskforce was set up following a report on the Public Service by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen said there would be a ‘‘rigorous appraisal of staffing levels, underpinned by external expertise.
The unions say Government Departments were already being put under pressure to cut numbers.
A letter from the Department of Finance to the Heads of other Government Departments and Agencies, informed them that ‘‘no specific additional provision’’ had been included in their Budgets to pay the increased wage bill.
Each Department Secretary General has until the end of November to show how they plan to meet the cutbacks.
With no redundancy program in place the unions say Departments cannot reduce permanent staff numbers.
28 October, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA
PS payrises blow out Budget
Higher than expected pay rises have caused a 23 billion rand (A$3.3 billion) Budget blowout in South Africa’s Public Service.
A Budget policy statement has revealed higher than budgeted Public Service salary increases would cost Provinces R3 billion this year (A$430 million) and R23.2 billion in extra salaries over the next three years.
The policy statement said the blowout would affect every Government Department, particularly those with high staff numbers such as Defence and the Police Service, and all had had their Budgets topped up to meet the increased personnel costs.
The policy statement said that, “at the time of tabling their Budgets, Provinces were asked to provide for salary adjustments of 7.5 per cent in 2008-09, but actual increases of 10.5 per cent were awarded.
It said the Police Service was hardest hit and needed to be awarded an extra R668 million (A$96 million) this year to cover the higher salaries. Defence was given an extra R202 million (A$29 million) and the Justice Department was allocated R119 million (A$17 million).
It said current payments to the Provinces would increase this year by R7.6 billion, (A$1.09 billion) bringing the total allocation to R245.6 billion (A$35.3 billion) for the financial year.
It said the payment will rise by a further 10.8 per cent each year, bringing the total allocation of funds to Provinces in the form of “equitable share” to R333.8 billion (A$48 billion) in 2011-12.
“Equitable share’’ sees funds allocated by the Federal Treasury to the nine Provinces according to a formula devised by the Finance and Fiscal Commission which allocated more money to larger Provinces.
The statement said KwaZulu-Natal would get the largest slice this year at R44.25 (A$6.3 billion) and Northern Cape the smallest at R5.4 billion. (A$780 million).
28 October, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Strong criticism for PS pension scheme
The retirement fund for Britain's top Public Servants has attracted criticism from the Opposition parties
Discovered to be at a record level of £138 million, the fund, for the exclusive use of the top 200 Public servants, has been described as “shocking.”
The fund increased in value by £16 million this year.
Under the British scheme, the senior staff do not have to contribute to the scheme. They are entitled to retire at 60 on index-linked pensions worth an average £48,000 a year (A$122,000) with more than 50 of them entitled to retirement funds worth more than £1 million (A$2.5 million) which would return about £70,000 (A$179,000) annually.
The Liberal Democrats have criticised the arrangement saying the increase this year came at a time millions of other workers had seen the value of their pensions fall by a quarter as stocks plummeted during the global financial crisis.
The party said many British workers had been forced to delay their retirement plans until 68.
It said included in the fund was an entitlement for a £3.1 million (A$7.9 million) public-funded pension for the Director-General of the National Health Service and more than £2 million (A$5.1 million) for the Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O'Donnell.
The Liberal Democrats spokeswoman on work and pensions, Jenny Willott said the Government needed to come clean on how much taxpayers were paying for Civil Servants' pensions.
“These shocking figures are just the tip of the iceberg,” Ms Willott said.
“The ever-increasing cost of food and fuel has meant that many people can't afford to pay into their own pension schemes.
“It is time to look again at whether taxpayers can afford to provide such generous pensions.’’
A Cabinet Office spokesman defended remuneration packages for senior Civil Servants saying they “were not lavish’’.
“If you look at the annual reports of major companies you will often find significantly higher pension pots, as well as significantly higher salaries,’’ the spokesman said.
28 October, 2008
PHILIPPINES
Search to top Tax Officer
The Tax Management Association of the Philippines is trying to improve the image of the country’s tax workers by finding the country’s best Revenue employee.
President of the Association, Laura Yuson-Layug said it believed there were many professional and competent people working in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and this was the reason behind its search for the “Revenue Employee of 2008.”
Ms Yuson-Layug said the group hoped the contest would help improve the public’s perception of the Bureau and its employees.
“TMAP also seeks to improve morale within the Bureau, thereby ultimately encouraging taxpayer compliance,” she said.
She said the Association was also planning to expand the search to areas outside Manila for the competition’s next phase.
“Since this is the initial year - and we expected a lot of growing pains attendant to undertaking a project of this nature for the first time - we decided to limit the search to the metro Manila area only, so that we can learn from our mistakes this year and polish the procedures and processes,” Ms Yuson-Layug said.
She said if the results of the competition were favourable and generated a positive response from the public, the association would expand the search to cover all BIR employees.
“With the help of our media partner ... the finalists would be able to convey their stories to the world and their stories are indeed remarkable,” she said.
“We also plan to bring the winner and finalists to various radio stations, and possibly television, so that they may serve as an inspiration to others.”
Ms Yuson-Layug said she hoped the competition would impact on the Public’s perception of the Bureau as well as on the attitude of Revenue employees.
The winner get a P100,000 prize (A$3,300) and all finalists will receive P25,000 (A$825) each.
28 October, 2008
CANADA
Study payments to attract staff
A scholarship program paying for employees’ degrees was one of the ways the government of British Columbia was using to attract and retain new Public Servants.
Facing a declining PS workforce, the B.C. Government was also trying to lure retirees back to work, hire young employees, and plan for attrition.
According to the Deputy Minister to the Premier and Head of the Public Service, Jessica McDonald, like other major employers, the Public Service was facing massive losses of staff and expertise as its workforce hit retirement age. It was fighting back by introducing and enhancing initiatives aimed at hiring and retaining its staff.
Ms McDonald said the Government had in the past been “a very structured workplace’’ and had “a very traditional way of approaching’’ its human resources practices.
"The more that we get out there talking to people, the more we realise that the answers for us, in terms of challenges that we are facing, are right there in front of us,” Ms McDonald said.
“People will tell us what they are interested in doing, and these turn out to be the best solutions for some of the challenges we are facing.
She said the B.C. Government anticipated that by 2011, more workers would be leaving the Public Service than entering it and within seven years retirement was expected to claim 45 per cent of managers and 35 per cent of other workers.
She said the Province employed 30,000 Public Servants in 280 communities.
Ms McDonald said the Government had launched a number of programs to bolster staffing, including helping workers design a career path within the Public Service.
Employees interested in career goals were assisted to get on the track to achieve them.
Ms McDonald said the Pacific Leaders scholarship program had been popular with 700 Public Servants taking part,.
She said the program covered 100 per cent of tuition and books up to $5,000 annually for undergraduate degrees, diplomas, and certificates and up to $7,500 per year for Masters or PhD programs. The coverage was increased this year from 75 per cent.
“We think this is one of the most important things we are doing in terms of helping people build their careers in the B.C. Public Service," Ms McDonald said.
She said the student loan forgiveness program, which knocked off the amount owed in one-third increments each year, was also popular.
28 October, 2008
BARBADOS
Payrise agreed for PS
Public Servants in Barbados would soon be taking home bigger pay packets after the National Union of Public Workers and the Ministry of the Civil Service agreed to a healthy pay rise.
After a second round of talks, the agreed increases were 6 per cent in the first year and 4.5 per cent in the second year.
Although the union had originally been asking for 15 per cent over two years its President Walter Maloney said it was an “agreement that everybody would be satisfied with’’.
Mr Maloney said the union had wanted to ensure there was no “undue’’ pressure on the economy as was the case in 1991 and 1992. He said everyone at the negotiating table had understood that the country had to come first and commended Permanent Secretary Ronald Fitt for doing a “wonderful" job.
Mr Fitt returned the compliment, saying the union’s leadership should take credit for their high level of professionalism and responsibility during the negotiations.
The agreement, which would be backdated to 1 April, was expected to be ratified by the National Council.
Pensioners who received their money directly from the Treasury would also receive an increase.
Mr Maloney restated his union's position on negotiating independently from the umbrella body, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados. He said the negotiating framework had proved “useful’’ again and there was no need to meet with the CTUSAB.
General Secretary of CTUSAB, Dennis Depeiza, said his organisation had held a round of talks with the Ministry on behalf of its other members and was looking forward to further discussions.
28 October, 2008
GHANA
PS to get technological training
Ghana’s top Public Servant has called for more training to help PS employees keep up with technological advances in the workplace.
Head of the Ghana Civil Service, Joe Issachar said a comprehensive policy in training of Civil Servants was important to overcome technological challenges.
He said since a Public Servant’s work was crucial in the facilitation of Government policies and programs they needed the knowledge and skills to increase productivity.
Mr Issachar said the Civil Servant Training School had been left behind by advances in the field and the time had come for the nation to invest in a new training centre.
He said the school needed to be restructured in order to properly serve in its role as a capacity builder for the Public Service.
Mr Issachar made his comments when launching a Records Management Training Program for mid-level Public Servants, a two week workshop run by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
He said the aim of the program was to train Public Servants in identifying, classifying, archiving, preserving and destroying records professionally.
He said the participants should see the workshop as an opportunity for them to upgrade their knowledge.
Mr Issachhar said his Office would continue to develop programs to help the Public Service work efficiently to meet high standards.
Alex Kwamine from the Commonwealth Secretariat said records management was a critical area in the operation of Civil Service organisations but it had been relegated to the background.
Mr Kwamine said the Commonwealth Secretariat would strive to improve records management in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
He said personnel who kept records would need to be equipped with the management tools needed for the jobs they were assigned in their respective organisations.
He said the Secretariat would continue to fund similar programs to enable Civil Servants to work efficiently.
28 October, 2008
NIGERIA
Forum looks at PS change
The Head of Nigeria’s Public Service has called for urgent change to make the Service a leader in national development.
Amal I. Pepple, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said there was an urgent need for the Service to renew itself and adapt to change so it could serve as a driver of national development initiative.
Ms Pepple said there were very few nations in the world that had risen beyond the capacity of their Civil Service
Speaking at a stakeholders forum Ms Pepple emphasised that participants should provide and create the opportunity to design, implement and develop strategies that would help the country progress.
She also called on them to discuss field work and the dynamics of public engagement as well as on the format and substance of report writing.
“This will enthrone a new value system which is pivoted by patriotism, equity and hard work,” she said.
Ms Pepple said the forum would create a mechanism for the development and implementation of definite rules for resolving conflicts among the stakeholders.
“This aims at enhancing a smooth working relationship among the stakeholders, in order to face the challenges of achieving an overall national development,” she said.
“The partnership would reposition our constituencies for the onerous task of facilitating the achievement of national development aspirations.”
She said the forum was also designed to provide an opportunity for all stakeholders involved in the design, development, implementation and monitoring of programs to discuss issues responsible for capacity building in the offices of the Head of Civil Service throughout the nation’s states.
It was also expected the forum would provide the opportunity for interested parties to create the rapport necessary for a smooth working relationship.
The Permanent Secretary in the Head of Service Office, Alhaji Saidu Bello Ozigis, said it was expected that the outcome of studies being undertaken would be used to develop training modules and master plans to engage Civil Servants in improving themselves to face the challenges of achieving overall national development.
Ms Ozigis said challenges facing the nation included poverty issues and the need to build trust and confidence in Government by promoting good governance.
21 October, 2008
NEW ZEALAND
Opposition promises PS razor gang
New Zealand’s Opposition Leader has said that if elected in November his party would set up a razor gang of Cabinet Ministers to trim fat and channel more resources into frontline public services.
National leader, John Key used a Dunedin campaign stop to detail how his party intended to get better value for money out of the Public Service.
He said a Cabinet Expenditure Control Committee would be formed which would require all Departmental chief executives to report to after reviewing their spending line-by-line.
“Based on the information it receives, the Committee will be able to initiate in-depth spending reviews of particular areas of Government administration to ensure the best value for taxpayers and users of public services,’’ Mr Key said.
He said his party would cap the size of the core bureaucracy and limit new spending in its first Budget to priorities identified in the election campaign and priorities that could not be deferred.
“In the period immediately ahead, families and businesses will have no option but to behave with restraint and will be entitled to see similar restraint reflected in the operation of Government agencies funded by their taxes,’’ he said.
“This is a time in which the public sector must play its part by seeking to improve productivity and the delivery of core services to the public.’’
Communications staff, which had doubled in numbers in six years, could be the first to feel the axe.
“New Zealanders know the service provided by these Departments isn't twice as good,’’ Mr Key said.
He said a National party led Government would treat every dollar it spent as carefully as householders do when they're totting up the weekly budget.
“In the period immediately ahead, families and businesses will have no option but to behave with restraint, and will be entitled to see similar restraint reflected in the operation of the Government Agencies funded by their taxes,’’ Mr Key said.
“Years of unfocused and largely unmanaged growth have left a Public Service that is unbalanced between head office administrators and frontline service providers.
“Productivity levels are too low and now represent an impediment to the better growth levels our economy must achieve.”
He said his party would improve productivity across the public sector by ensuring there was a strong focus on the provision of frontline services that New Zealanders and their families relied on, and by reining in the growth of the back-room bureaucracy.
“This is a time in which the Public Sector must play its part by seeking to improve productivity and the delivery of core services to the public,’’ Mr Key said.
21 October, 2008
UNITED STATES
PS morale is cause for concern
The United States Public Service was plagued by sagging morale, troubled labour relations and weak leadership, according to a panel of experts.
Speaking at an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act, New York University Professor of Public Administration, Paul Light was one of the panellists to call for immediate change to the country’s Public Service.
“The State of the Federal Service is not good,” Professor Light said.
“This is not a time for tinkering. These are problems that we face … that require something bigger.”
He said recent events had seriously damaged trust in Government and public interest in Public Service.
He singled out for criticism the politicisation at the Justice Department, which had been under fire this year for the firing of US attorneys and for hiring on the basis of political affiliation.
“I happen to believe that [former Attorney General] Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Department did as much to destroy student interest in Public Service as we’ve done to create it,” Professor Light said.
“You’ve got to rebuild confidence now among young lawyers who might have thought it’d be a good thing to spend time at Justice.”
He said public interest in Government service could weaken the Federal Government and undo many of the accomplishments it had made in the past half-century.
He said Agencies would continue to struggle until they found a way to attract fresh talent.
Another professor on the panel said labour relations under the the 30-year-old Act had “failed abysmally” while a former policy adviser with the Office of Personnel Management said the Public Service was attracting “the wrong people’’.
The Act was supposed to improve the relationship between labour unions and Federal managers, but many of the panelists said unions and managers had spent years fighting over the law, creating an adversarial relationship.
“If the vision and purpose of the [Act] is the creation of labour-management relationships to improve employee performance, we have failed abysmally,” said Bob Tobias, a professor at American University.
“Nobody [has] gained from this relationship … Managers [are] unable to access the spirit of those knowledgeable workers that they so desperately needed.”
Other members of the panel pointed to problems with pay compression in the Senior Executive Service, claiming a growing number of senior executives in expensive cities such as Washington, earned less than some of the employees they supervised.
They said the Government had focused too much on the pay, benefits and job security in the Federal service and needed to emphasise its public-service mission and the variety of jobs available.
Professor Light said the Federal Government needed to be “more like a non-profit”, and become an “agile, entrepreneurial, highly dedicated organisation that’s driven by the mission”.
21 October, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Strike threat over PS pay cap
Members of the 270,000-strong Public and Commercial Services Union have voted in favour of nationwide strikes in protest at the Government's Public Sector pay policy.
The move threatens a winter of industrial action across Government Departments and Agencies, including job centres, Courts, coastguards and immigration centres.
The union said 54 per cent of those taking part in the ballot backed industrial action and the union's executive was to meet to decide dates for a program of industrial action which could last for the rest of the year.
The “yes’’ vote came as Civil Servants faced mounting pressure on their finances because of the Government's 2 per cent pay cap.
General Secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka said that with a quarter of the Civil Service earning less than £16,500 (A$41,200) and thousands earning just above the minimum wage, the Government's policy of capping public sector pay has hit some of the lowest paid in the Public Sector the hardest, leading to real terms pay cuts and pay freezes.
“The hardworking people who keep this country running - from passports, immigration and justice, to coastguards, tax and job centres - face increasing financial hardship because of the pay cap,” Mr Serwotka said.
“Pay freezes and real term pay cuts are simply not sustainable when you are earning a pittance and experiencing double digit rises in food, fuel and housing costs.
He said bailing out bankers should not be at the expense of those who delivered public services or those who relied on them.
“Members feel betrayed and this ballot result illustrates that they are prepared to stand up for fair pay.
“The Government have a window of opportunity to avert industrial action and to recognise that their public sector pay cap is compounding the financial misery of hardworking families in these unstable economic times,’’ Mr Serwotka said.
21 October, 2008
SOLOMON ISLANDS
Websites to improve training
Minister for the Public Service in the Solomon Islands, Milner Tozaka has launched a website aimed at elevating training delivery within the Public Service.
He said the Public Service Community website was created to help produce quality Public Servants with higher standards of professionalism.
Mr Tozaka said the site catered for those working in Government Ministries in Honiara but would soon be developed to include Public Officers working in the provinces.
He said the benefits of having the website included cost-effective training for Public Servants through improved access, and access to outside knowledge and expertise as the site was linked with the Pacific Community Online.
Assistant Secretary of Human Resources, Maxwell Banyo, said the site was developed last year after a regional Public Services Online Seminar in Wellington, New Zealand.
“We are fortunate to have the support of Dr Pak Yoong, from Victoria University, Wellington, who was the adviser for this project,” Mr Banyo said.
“He was instrumental in developing this program as well as the Commonwealth Secretariat and NZAID who have been playing an important role in funding this project,” he said.
Currently the sites were hosted at the Pacific Village Online portal and consisted of two sites; a Human Resources Managers site and an Institute of Public Administration and management Trainers site.
Mr Banyo said the Ministry of Public Service planned to develop a third website later to improve access to Government information for the mass of Public Servants scattered through various provinces and islands.
The website could be found at www.thepacificvillage.org
21 October, 2008
CHINA
PS popularity booming
The world’s economic crisis has caused an increase in people wanting Public Service jobs in China.
With the private sector facing troubled times, the website for national civil service exams crashed on its first live day this month.
A recent survey showed about 86 per cent of respondents considered taking the exam in a bid to join the public sector.
A Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security official said the reason was simple.
“In China, Civil Servant jobs meant good payment, decent social status and permanent social welfare,” the official said.
“There is a low risk of being fired.’’
China was expected to recruit 13,566 new Civil Servants this year, according to a new PS enrolment brochure.
Peking University graduate Dong Shu said a civil service job was at the top of her wish list.
“As a girl, I just want stability,” Ms Dong said.
“The civil service sector can provide a comfortable and wealthy life. What's more, most of my classmates are going to take the exam,”
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications student Wu Minggang said being a Civil Servant meant a bright future.
“If you work for a foreign enterprise, you will still be an engineer in 20 years, but if I get a job as a Civil Servant, the career development path will be different," Mr Wu said.
Civil Servant Li Pei, who is a post-graduate of the University of International Relations, said her job had plenty of benefits including cheap accommodation and meals. She said as well as a healthy salary, she also enjoyed good insurance and pension coverage.
Professor Hu Fengling of the University of International Relations said 70 per cent of the graduates in his school would take the national Civil Service exam, but only one in five would get a job.
21 October, 2008
SOUTH AFRICA
Call for tighter corruption checks
The head of a South African Government has called for more stringent security checks on potential Government employees.
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, S'bu Ndebele said the time had come for more stringent vetting procedures to reduce the level of fraud and corruption.
Speaking at a provincial anti-corruption summit in Durban, Mr Ndebele said applicants' employment histories were usually only questioned as an “afterthought’’ when there were problems but some people had been charged with corruption but were not convicted at the time of their interviews.
He said such people would not include that information on their CVs and it would not come up during the interview process.
“We should make it a requirement in the interviewing process ... to find out the actual history not only from the applicant themselves but to independently find out,’’ Mr Ndebele said.
He warned Departments not to blindly accept what people wrote on their CVs “because some people write very good CVs’’.
Departments were sometimes “so eager to fill posts’’ that individuals were hired just on the strength of a well-written CV and not subjected to any checks which would delay the position being filled.
He said background checks would be particularly valid for those who changed their jobs for no apparent reason, without salary being a motivating factor, or where individuals job-hopped a lot from Department to Department or from one Province to another without valid reason.
The Provincial Treasury was investigating 25 cases of fraud, theft, corruption and mismanagement against Government employees totalling nearly R40-million (A$5.8M). There were also 19 cases involving Government officials and members of the public before courts.
Mr Ndebele said the creation of a special unit to investigate housing and subsidies had resulted in 29 health, education and housing officials appearing in court.
A special unit had also been established in the Public Works Department and it was dealing with 35 “high-profile cases’’.
Premier Ndebele said the Social Development and Education Departments had experienced “dramatic’’ turnarounds “for the better’’ in dealing with fraud and corruption.
He said the Education Department had previously had no idea how many teachers it employed and at one stage had many “ghost’’ teachers on its payroll but was now doing much better.
“Don't judge us by the heights we have not reached, judge us by the depths we have come out of,’’ he said.
21 October, 2008
INDIA
Back pay makes PS a target
Payment of 32 months back pay for some Central Government employees has made them prime targets for car manufacturers trying to offload surplus stock.
The decision by the Sixth Pay Commission to pay up to 20,000 rupees ($A600) in back pay to Government employees has car companies like Hyundai and General Motors ready to pounce on possible new customers.
The arrears payments were part of a new pay deal for Government employees and the companies have come up with big discounts to woo them into new car ownership.
Hyundai, the country's second largest passenger car manufacturer, was offering deals across different models and had joined with several banks to combine easy finance options to Government employees for their vehicle purchases.
Senior Vice-President for Sales and Marketing at Hyundai, Arvind Saxena said the offers would be an added incentive for all Government employees, who would soon enjoy the benefits of their Sixth Pay Commission arrears, to purchase a car in the festive season.
General Motors also introduced limited-period, special offer packages for all Central and State Government employees.
“As a part of our ongoing centenary celebrations, this special offer to all Central and State Government employees will make the vehicles affordable to them,” GM’s Sales and Marketing Vice-President Ankush Arora said.
Hyundai said the arrears payment could be used as the down payment for the purchase of the car and the increased revised salary would help the Government employees make their monthly repayments.
India’s largest passenger car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, was running a marketing campaign under which its sales officers would work with dealers in State capitals to reach the Government employees.
According to a Mumbai-based analyst, the recent move by the vehicle manufacturers would draw a higher number of Government employees into the showrooms but would at the same time help them to clear their inventory.
“There has been a slump in demand over the last few months and consequently huge inventory had piled up with almost all players,’’ he said.
21 October, 2008
UNITED STATES
City shutdown angers unions
An order by the Mayor of Chicago to “partially shutdown” the city’s Government for three days this year and three more in 2009 to help solve the city’s worst budget crisis in a generation has angered public sector unions.
The Government’s plan to save nearly $20 million in two years by closing for business on Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and the day after Thanksgiving has raised the ire of the PS unions since the only city employees scheduled to work on those days would be police officers, fire fighters, emergency call centre employees and a skeletal crew in Departments like Streets and Sanitation, Water, Aviation and Family Services.
Union’s had previously rejected the Mayor’s request for five unpaid furlough days in each of the next four years to save 200 jobs and help erase a $469 million budget shortfall.
The 2009 budget was expected to include 1,080 redundancies but that number was now expected to come down.
The Mayor made no apologies for ordering downtime that union leaders had refused to agree to voluntarily.
“This is a good thing for the city and the taxpayers,” the Mayor said.
“In the interest of taxpayers, we have to do things … No one wants to lay anyone off. No one wants to do that. But you have to think about all the taxpayers of the city.
“This is going to be a very difficult economy. This is going to be much more challenging than anybody has seen.”
Union leader Lou Phillips said the partial shutdown would cost his members 12 days of pay - not six - over the two years.
“In our contract, our members have to work the day before and the day after a holiday to get paid for it. So in effect, he’s taking away two days pay [for each day of shutdown] unless he agrees to pay the members for the holiday without working the day after,” he said.
“You’re shutting down city business. I don’t know if he can do that legally. The members are losing money. It’s not their fault. They have a job to do.”
Another union spokesman said shutting down City Government, even for three days a year, was the “wrong path to take’’.
“We’re talking about essential services that residents rely on … We need to look at ways we can manage the shortfall and respond to economic reality in a way that protects city services and front line workers who provide those services,” he said.
“I can’t say whether it should be legal or not. But I can guarantee you our union and Chicago Federation of Labor will use all the tools at our disposal to fight any reduction in services.”
The mayor said city employees would be called back in to work if Chicago was hit by a disaster.
21 October, 2008
GHANA
Africans urged to change attitude
Ghana’s top civil servant wants African countries to rid themselves of “Third World mentality’’ by unlocking the potential of their Civil Servants.
Head of the Civil Service, Joe Issachar, said African nations needed to follow the lead of countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in placing more importance on the development of their Government employees.Speaking after his election as the Vice-President of the African Association of Public Administration and Management (AAPAM), Mr Issachar said African nations needed to develop effective leadership strategies to "unlock" the potential of their civil servants, which would in turn bring about greater development.
The leader’s statements marked the end of a week of discussions by key figures in the Public Service industries of member countries.
One of the observations made was that the development achieved by newly industrialised countries, particularly those in the Far East, was due in part to development of human capital.
Mr Issachar said “a strong public administration system required competent, knowledgeable, well motivated and innovative human resource”.
However, “in most African Public Services, the human resource is not managed as a valuable asset’’. There was a need to “modernise and professionalise’’ the human resource function in Public Service organisations.
He said more investment was needed for training and development programs for staff, as well as providing them a supportive working environment.
“Training and development programs should be systematically institutionalised within the Public Service’’.
AAPAM noted that African Public Services struggled in performance and delivery capacities because of the unattractive conditions of service, recognising that pay levels were low in most countries and were “stagnant, non-competitive, compressed and not related to performance’’.
It also observed that countries where the civil service had made a difference in development tended to pay their Public Servants well.
Recommendations to stop the ‘brain drain’ included pay reforms, competitive and attractive conditions of service and an increase in fringe benefits.
Ghana’s Minister for Public Sector Reforms, Samuel Owusu-Agyei, said in spite of limited funds, countries should find ways to achieve the impossible, saying they should constantly be thinking outside the box, and not be rule-bound.
21 October, 2008
CANADA
Mobile technology to save money
A Canadian study had found that the Government could save $37 million per day by better equipping its employees with mobile technology.
The study entitled Out of the Office: Federal Mobile Workforce Trends found that of the 82 per cent of Federal employees who spent work time out of the office each month those who used a smartphone for work purposes reported an average time savings/productivity gain of 54 minutes per day.
The public-private partnership Telework Exchange announced the results of the study saying work time outside the office each month included telework, travel and meetings in other locations.
The study also revealed that 29 per cent of employees spent more time working outside of the office now than they did this time last year.
It found a productivity opportunity for the mobile workforce and estimated the $37 million could be achieved in additional productivity each day by equipping mobile employees.
The study found:
- Eighteen per cent of Federal employees worked from their office all day, every day.
- Forty-two per cent of respondents’ teleworked at least part time.
- Twenty per cent of office-based employees spent at least a portion of two days per week outside of the office.
- Sixteen per cent of Federal employees gave their agency an “A” for equipping employees with mobile tools.
- Federal employees equipped with smartphones reported an average time savings/productivity gain of 54 minutes per day.
- Approximately 1.4 million Federal employees spent some time out of the office without the technology to stay connected.
“The study finds that the majority of respondents are already mobile – travelling to and from the office, their home office, meetings, client sites, etc.
“Mobile technology plays a critical role in empowering employees to remain productive, regardless of their location,” she said.
14 October, 2008
UNITED STATES
Treasury warned on bail-out contracting
The United States Treasury has begun outsourcing the management of its $700 billion bail-out of the nation’s banks by engaging portfolio managers and other financial services consultants without following standard hiring and appointment procedures.
Experts have warned of the dangers.
The Washington Post said Treasury
's quick turn to the private sector would help it prepare for the massive task of overseeing mortgages and other financial assets to be acquired as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
The newspaper said Government had little time to assess the companies that would be partners in what could become one of the largest public-sector funds in American history.
Contracting expert, D. Kent Goodger, who was a contracting official for four decades and now taught procurement classes for the US Federal Government, warned that decisions to bypass Federal acquisition regulations for urgent and compelling reasons in the past had led to trouble and cost overruns.
"By rushing ahead, doing this quickly, it creates inherent risks," Mr Goodger said.
"I just hope they're going to be doing this in a secure, professional manner."
The Post said Department Officials were aware that some of the same organisations that played roles in the rise and collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market could end up guiding the Government as the bailout unfolded.
Executive Vice President of the Professional Services Council, a trade group representing Government contractors, Alan Chvotkin said the rushed appointments potentially had good and bad implications.
"The upside is the flexibility," Mr Chvotkin said.
"The downside is unclear requirements and foreclosing robust competition among potential asset managers."
The Post said that analysis by the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense found that the Government's use of private firms during the resolution of the savings-and-loan crisis two decades ago lead to "untrammeled payouts to the private sector and reprimands from Congress and the Government Accountability Office."
Treasury officials said the process was competitive, despite what they acknowledged was an "aggressive" timetable.
"Frankly, there is no alternative in this case," a Treasury official was quoted as saying.
"This is an emergency act and Congress is expecting us to act quickly."
The Post reported that the Department planned to hire Neel Kashkari, an assistant secretary of international affairs and a former Goldman Sachs banker, to oversee the Government's $700 billion financial rescue program.
It said as part of the rescue program, Treasury would buy troubled assets from financial institutions, many of which had large holdings in mortgage-related securities.
14 October, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
Report urges PS to modernise
A new report has called for radical change and a shake-up of decision-making in the UK Public Service, claiming the PS was entrenched in old-style service delivery models and departmental hierarchies.
Director of New Local Government Network, Chris Leslie’s report Managing Delivery - New Public Service Architecture for the 21st Century called on Ministers and PS Directors to shift away from old-style PS models and Departmental hierarchies that were “outmoded and incapable of meeting new challenges”.
Mr Leslie said there were four core pillars of modern PS management that were not yet fully appreciated across the UK Public Sector.
He said the factors that drove improvement differed from service to service, and new methods must go beyond the ‘choice’ and ‘contestability’ models.
“Other factors can be equally important, such as citizen and political power, professional influence and the Public Service ethos, and the power of new substitute technologies and products replacing existing activities,” Mr Leslie said.
“Government must analyse each line of Public Service activity and recognise that sometimes greater consumer choice will be needed, but in other cases tapping into professional goodwill might be a better means of achieving improvement.”
He said the UK was entering a new era of networked governance and decision-making by partnerships, yet the skills to build productive alliances were not recognised or rewarded adequately.
Mr Leslie said a fresh approach to risk management was needed to encourage creativity, and stronger messages about understanding risk and boldness needed to be sent from the top.
He said greater advantage needed to be taken from new commissioning approaches, whether analysing public need more acutely, prioritising resources more effectively or contracting more cleverly on behalf of the taxpayer.
“The Public Service has rested on withered laurels for too long,” Mr Leslie said.
“Defending closed procedures for those employed in senior positions and artificially insisting on outdated lines of vertical accountability are practices that have had their day.”
He called for a model that delivered performance with the same power that bureaucracy drove in the industrial era.
14 October, 2008
ONTARIO
PS recruits from Second Life
The Ontario Public Service was plugging into the virtual world of Second Life in its efforts to recruit staff.
Acting Director of the Youth and New Professionals’ Secretariat, Glen Padassery said Second Life gave people an opportunity to try a profession before they committed to it.
"You can don the firefighter gear that our Ministry of Natural Resources has and take on a fire in a simulation," Mr Padassery said.
"That idea is you are a career tourist – you have a day-in-the-life type of interaction."
Ontario's Public Service turned to Second Life in a bid to replace its ageing workforce, and with an average Second Life user aged 32, the virtual world seemed an ideal environment to attempt recruitment.
Mr Padassery said the award-winning simulation set up by the Government may be a virtual island, but the Government wasn’t alone using Second Life to recruit staff.
He said many organisations were turning to virtual worlds as a useful recruitment vehicle and honing techniques for measuring the success of such projects.
Mr Padassery said it was one more step towards virtual worlds becoming more mainstream and less dominated by a population of computer nerds.
"As youth move more towards the online space, we wanted to make sure we had a presence that would be fulfilling and meaningful to them.”
He said the Government worked with a New York-based virtual world design firm SL Agency to launch the pilot in April.
The team selected five of the 18 careers that Ontario was looking to draw attention to: firefighter, medical technician, civil engineer, economist, and traffic analyst.
Vice President of the SL Agency, Leigh Rowan said the Second Life was perfect for experiential marketing package because it really would show what it's like to work as a fireman, or in a health clinic.
14 October, 2008
CANADA
PS reacts against political interference
Public Servants in Canada have spoken out over political pressure in their jobs, claiming a barrage of new directives, staff changes and punitive practices were interfering with their job performance.
President of the Agriculture Union, Bob Kingston said employees had been subject to muzzling and allegations of disloyalty over their personal political allegiances.
Mr Kingston said the bureaucracy was rife with stories of unqualified people catapulted into top management positions, presumably because of political connections, and presumably to carry out political directives.
"We're feeling political pressure like never before,” Mr Kingston said, “both in terms of being told to be quiet and in asked to do things.
“For instance, every single Canada Food Inspection Agency employee received messages saying 'don't talk to the media' with a climate of firing everybody who talks."
He said politically-driven directives had become common in Canada's PS and he was particularly astonished when CFIA staff were ordered to replace the phrase ‘Government of Canada’ with ‘Conservative Government’.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said. "We thought it was a joke, I find it unbelievable that a manager would force staff to do this."
Mr Kingston said there were rumours in the PS that managerial positions were appointed on political grounds, but it was hard to prove.
President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Michèle Demers said a lot of valuable women in high-level positions had disappeared off the radar.
“Some were brought to the edge by bureaucratic stupid requirements, and others have simply been told 'Thank you very much for your services’,” Ms Demers said.
She said she had experienced impediments first-hand, for example when she attended a national management-union conference in Quebec City where Robert Leahy, a former top bureaucrat at Treasury, was to introduce a widely-awaited review of the Public Service.
She said Mr Leahy was told at the last minute he could not speak.
"It caught everybody off-guard," Ms Demers said. "It was just plain ridiculous, sick paranoia."
She said another demoralising factor was that Public Servants’ work had been contracted out to the private sector, such as federal laboratories, or downloaded to manufacturers, as with product and food safety.
14 October, 2008
ITALY
Drive to stamp out corruption
A drive to stamp out corruption in the Italian Public Service has been launched by the Premier of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr Berlusconi said Italy had a longstanding problem with corruption among Public Servants, partly because of the size of its State administration.
''There is a price to be paid for a sprawling, bureaucratic and bloated public administration like ours,'' Mr Berlusconi said.
''Corruption has age-old roots and has taken on a pathological and endemic form which cannot be tolerated and which we aim to root out.''
He said the Government's new Anti-Corruption and Transparency Service would aim, among other things, to ''effectively map out corruptions risks and carry out an in-depth probe into European Union funds''.
Mr Berlusconi said the task force would have an intelligence-gathering rather than a policing role, and was expected to save millions of Euros in taxpayers' money.
He said he was familiar with the problems of administrative corruption because of his early experiences as a young construction entrepreneur in Milan.
Mr Berlusconi said he had to stop building in Milan ''because you couldn't build anything (there) unless you went (to officials) with a cheque in your mouth''.
''This, fortunately, occurred many years ago,'' he said.
Mr Berlusconi said he would rely on Civil Service Minister, Renato Brunetta to push through the anti-corruption reforms.
Mr Brunetta said he had already cut the PS absenteeism rate by 45 per cent.
“By the end of the year we will effectively have 50,000 more workers without new hirings,” Mr Brunetta said.
He said turnstiles like those at soccer stadiums would be installed at his Ministry to show when staff entered and left their offices.
Mr Berlusconi joked that the move meant surrounding bars were already empty.
14 October, 2008
WALES
PS performance website improved
A website that allowed the public to monitor the performance of the Welsh Public Service has been enhanced.
Minister for Finance and Public Service Delivery, Andrew Davies said the enhancements made performance information simpler and easier to use, and easier for Agencies to locate.
Mr Davies said most parts of the PS already had their own performance data, but the website was established to make the information easier to understand and find.
“As a first step, we established an information portal which links to some key public service performance sites, including those providing access to a range of inspection reports,” Mr Davies said.
“The new enhanced portal is now simpler to use with information specific to each local authority area accessible from one page making it much easier to get directly to the data you need.”
He said each Agency had a ‘Your Area’ part of the website , which also linked to the new local authority performance data for 2007-08 which was being published by the Local Government Data Unit.
He said the data showed that while the standard of many local Government services was improving there was still work to be done to close the wide range of performance between local Authorities.
“I am pleased to see that local Authorities have made good progress in a number of areas,” Mr Davies said.
“Living in Wales, citizens should be able to expect a high level of service irrespective of where they live.”
He said uniform standards across the country represented a big challenge for the Assembly Government, but they were committed to a system whereby high quality services were available right across Wales.
14 October, 2008
ABU DHABI
Consultant to teach leadership
Abu Dhabi’s Department of Civil Service has signed up a consultant to deliver a leadership assessment program in a purpose-built camp in the desert near Al Ain.
The consultant would work closely with the Department to assist in the delivery of Phase II of the National Program for Leadership Development, a major initiative to identify and develop the future leadership of the Abu Dhabi Government and a cornerstone of the Government’s ongoing succession planning.
The DCS budgeted AED 66millon (A$151million) for the program which was in its second year and approximately 2,500 participants would be assessed over the coming 12 month period.
The Department had now spent AED 83million (A$209million) on developing Public Servants in the past two years, with the hope it would deliver a training and development system comparable to the best in the world.
DCS Undersecretary, Ali Al Ketbi said the deal with the contractors and the Government's substantial investment in the National Program signalled a strong commitment by the Emirate's leadership to nurture top talent in its continuing quest to develop a world-class administrative infrastructure.
"We are delighted to welcome Olive Group on board as a partner as we embark upon the next exciting phase of the National Program for Leadership Development,” Mr Al Ketbi said.
“This Program is unique to the region and presents our future leaders with an exceptional opportunity to work alongside a variety of the world's leading institutions to benefit not only their personal development, but that of the Emirate."
He said the National Program was designed to equip future PS leaders better for their professional development, which acknowledged the need for superior managerial and leadership skills if Abu Dhabi was to achieve world-class administration status by 2012.
The Program focused on understanding the current talent available and being aware of potential future leaders.
Each camp could accommodate up to 50 participants at a time, with several of the camps dedicated exclusively to women.
14 October, 2008
NOVA SCOTIA
PS recognised for contribution
Public Servants in Nova Scotia have been recognised for their contributions to the community by the celebration of Public Service Week, last week.
Nova Scotia’s Premier, Rodney MacDonald started the week by paying tribute to Government employees.
Mr MacDonald said the province’s Public Servants contributed to the prosperity of the region every day.
"With more than 10,000 civil servants, from health care workers to highway workers, they provide high quality service to keep our families safe, our businesses growing, and our communities thriving every single day," Mr MacDonald said.
He said the PS motto, Great People Doing Great Things, exemplified the skill, dedication and work that Public Servants did each working day.
He said Nova Scotia's Public Servants were encouraged to take the time and reflect on the contributions they made to the province over the past year.
Minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, Carolyn Bolivar-Getson said Public Service Week was a time to celebrate the hard work of Public Servants.
"During Provincial Public Service Week, we recognise our hardworking, resourceful, innovative, and dedicated civil servants," Ms Bolivar-Getson said.
"It is these men and women who plough our roads, provide our families with the support they need, develop programs for Nova Scotians, and work toward building new business opportunities and we should all be proud of their contributions to our Province."
14 October, 2008
CAYMAN ISLANDS
Search on for top PS staffers
The Public Service of the Cayman Islands has launched a search for its best Public Servants.
The second annual FACE Awards - Five Star Awards for Customer Excellence - have been launched by the Islands’ Governor, Stuart Jack.
Chief Officer of the Portfolio of the Civil Service, Mary Rodrigues said that nomination forms for the FACE Awards would be available at most Government offices, and at all post offices.
Ms Rodrigues said nominations could be made by any member of the public, however Public Servants could not nominate themselves or an immediate family member.
She said all nominees must have been a civil servant for at least six months at the time of their nomination.
Government guidelines on the qualities of a FACE award winner included being approachable, friendly, helpful, polite, courteous, understanding, trustworthy, honest and fair, as well as professional both in their conduct and appearance.
The guidelines said they should also be able to solve problems and resolve conflicts while demonstrating a willingness to go the extra mile in order to satisfy a client’s needs.
The awards scheme was launched last year and 300 Public Servants were nominated.
Of those, 140 government workers were accepted, and the four winners were Simon Bennett, Donna Mae Hurlston, Marguerita Thompson and Sharon Welcome.
Ms Rodrigues said that although three out of last year’s four winners were women, the 300 people nominated were a mix of men and women, as well as experienced staff and newcomers to the PS.
She also announced that the Government would be launching a customer-training program for Public Servants later aimed at finding practical ways to help ordinary people.
14 October, 2008
GHANA
VP calls for development reforms
Delegates to the 30th African Association for Public Administration and Management roundtable have been urged to come up with solutions to Africa's developmental challenges and adopt reforms that were environmentally acceptable.
The Vice-President of Ghana, Aliu Mahama made the plea at the roundtable, being held in Accra this month.
Mr Mahama said the Public Service was perceived as corrupt, slow in meeting the demands of its clientele, not easily receptive to change, low in ethical standards, enslaved to rules and regulations and generally inefficient.
"The fact that our continent is still developing suggests that we have not, as a people, found adequate solutions to the numerous developmental challenges confronting us,” Mr Mahama said
He said the conference’s theme, Enhancing the Performance of the Public Service in a Development State, was appropriate, relevant and timely.
Mr Mahama said the PS was also constrained with excessive controls, bureaucracy, political interferences and lack of political will to improve the Service and its management.
He said the PS played a critical role by helping Government to fulfill its mandate, offer advice on available policy options, and implement policies, decisions and programs whilst functioning at the same time as the Government's administrative machinery.
Mr Mahama said globally the PS had become a formidable agent of change and social transformation and he urged policy-makers, researchers, the private sector and political leadership to support and embrace efforts and initiative aimed at promoting the efficiency and effective performance of the Sector.
He said if the Service was well organised and committed, it would improve in productivity and could become the main facilitator in helping the private sector to drive the pace of national development.
Ghana’s Minister of Public Sector Reform, Samuel Owusu-Agyei said the PS played a vital and indispensable role in planning and managing the State and to provide services in areas such as education, health, job creation, environmental management and housing.
Mr Owusu-Agyei said the PS in Africa must understand the ramifications of modern trends of development and he challenged public officers to find new ways to provide quality service.
7 October, 2008
KENYA
Promotions on cards as qualifications dropped
More than 200,000 Civil Servants can now be promoted automatically into four job groups after the Government dropped tough measures, including strict rules on academic qualifications, that held back promotions for its employees.
The "Succession Management in the Civil Service" program, instituted by Prime Minister Raila Odinga's office would no longer require an employee to have a Masters degree to move up to job group “P”, mainly occupied by Under-Secretaries, District Commissioners, Principal Economists, Senior Principal State Counsels and Principal Human Resource Officers.
Besides the Masters Degree waiver, the Government has also scrapped the mandatory requirement for an employee to have three years experience in one job group before being eligible for promotion. Also gone are internal examinations and proficiency tests, except in computer applications for clerks.
Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Titus Ndambuki said the new measures were a result of intensive consultations.
The relaxation of the rules came because the Government had failed to fill vacancies when they fell due.
Mr Ndambuki said the move had financial implications that would require additional finances for some Government Departments.
“Authorised officers must liaise with the Ministry of Finance for any additional budgetary requirements,” Mr Ndambuki said.
He said succession problems caused by a freeze on recruitment and voluntary early retirements had also been reasons for the changes in promotion policy.
“In order to resolve the current succession management and career stagnation problems within and across cadres in the Civil Service, it has been decided after consultations with the Public Service Commission that the scope of provision of posts that form a common establishment in all schemes and cadres be broadened to cover the first four grades at entry levels,” Mr Ndambuki said in a circular to Department heads.
The affected jobs included those held by District Officers, Immigration Officers, some Departmental Heads, Senior State Counsels, Human Resource Officers, Personal Secretaries and Accountants.
Mr Ndambuki said that officers in higher job groups who had qualifications, experience and demonstrated ability to perform duties of two grades higher would be considered for promotion to those grades without necessarily waiting to serve three years at their present grade.
7 October, 2008
IRELAND
Redundancies to beat overstaffing
Ireland’s Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan is expected to announce plans for a series of Public Service redundancies in an effort to counter perceived overstaffing.
The announcement would give effect to comments made last month by Mr Lenihan in which he said he would like to see a scheme for administrative staff extended across the wider Public Service.
The comments brought a mixed reaction from unions.
The Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) and the PS union, Impact questioned the cost and effectiveness of a redundancy package while the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) said it would need to see details.
Brendan Hayes of Siptu said the high costs of introducing a redundancy package didn’t make sense and that the issue had not been formally raised during negotiations.
Bernard Harbor of Impact said a recent OECD report concluded the Irish Public Service was not overstaffed: “There is an onus on people calling for this move to demonstrate that there is over-staffing,” he said.
“If you reduce staff numbers, you reduce the level of quality of services that are delivered as well. That is what happens with large-scale redundancy schemes.
“Frontloading costs to pay for a scheme will also have an impact on Government finances," Mr Harbor said.
CPSU’s Eoin Ronayne said his union would not refuse to discuss it, though it was important that the quality of services should not deteriorate.
“We are not prepared to reject it out of hand. There may be people [in the Public Service] who would be interested. The question is as to the scale and how it is targeted,” he said.
Mr Lenihan said the specifics of the package and the “first steps” of a Public Service scheme would be outlined during a Ministerial Budget speech.
The scheme is being earmarked as a medium-term project with estimates of at least a year before the extent, scope and details would be spelt out.
Government sources said the principal questions related to whether or not the Public Service was overstaffed and, if it was, where redundancies could be made.
Several previous Public Service redundancy schemes had proved unsuccessful after institutional knowledge and expertise were lost as a result. On that basis, these latest plans were expected to proceed cautiously.
Speaking from New York, the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen gave no indication as to whether he favoured a redundancy scheme or not.
"I can't anticipate the details of the Budget but an indication has been, and there has been work ongoing, for example within the Health Services Executive, about identifying what is the best way forward in terms of personnel policy," he told reporters.
7 October, 2008
UNITED KINGDOM
PS gears up for more strikes
The United Kingdom’s Public and Commercial Services Union has begun asking its 270,000 members whether they would back nation-wide industrial action against the Government’s plans to cap public sector pay to below inflation.
The survey will run to October 17 and involves Public Servants across the UK. It came as anger mounted over the Government’s PS pay policy which the union said was disproportionately hitting some of the lowest paid employees in the public sector.
Strikes over pay have already hit jobcentres, passports, immigration and coastguards across the UK and follow the planned action follows a strike in the Scottish Courts service, museums and sportscotland.
PCS members have been co-ordinating their industrial action over pay with other Public Sector unions, including the National Union of Teachers, the University and College Union and UCU and the PS union, Unison.
A quarter of the UK Civil Service earns less than £16,500, (A$38,750) and thousands earn just above the minimum wage.
According to the union, pay in the Civil Service is worse than other parts of the Public Sector because “progression” (moving from the minimum to the maximum of the pay range) is included in the Government’s pay cap, leaving less money available to fund basic pay awards.
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said that while the Government professed to be on the side of hard-pressed families at a time of an economic downturn, it was plunging tens of thousands of hardworking Public Servants into financial misery.
“Low paid Civil and Public Servants aren’t the causes of inflation,” Mr Serwotka said, “but the victims of inflation who are facing soaring food, fuel and housing costs at the same time as pay cuts and pay freezes.
He said it was “disgraceful” that a Government supposedly on the side of fairness, should pursue a pay policy that saw 40 per cent of staff in the Department for Work and Pensions and 30 per cent of staff in the Identity and Passport Service receive no pay rise this year whatsoever.
“Added to this you have Coastguard watch assistants receiving a special pay rise to keep their pay above the minimum wage,” he said.
“The Government can avoid damaging industrial action by recognising the hardship it is causing and by reviewing its unjust and unfair policy of below inflation pay.”
7 October, 2008
UNITED STATES
Gay partner plan strikes a hitch
A plan to offer the partners of gay Federal employees the same benefits available to spouses of straight employees has been opposed by the Deputy Director of the US Office of Personnel Management – on technical grounds.
Deputy Director Howard C. Weizmann told members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that his Agency was opposed to the legislation after initially saying the Office had no official position on the measure.
“We are opposed to this bill,” Mr Weizmann said after taking advice from an assistant.
He said there was concern over several technical issues he said the Office would have to resolve to put in place the employee benefits for the same-sex partners of Federal workers.
Chairperson of the Committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman who sponsored the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, said he was pleased Mr Weizmann’s concerns were limited to technical matters that could easily be corrected.
Mr Weizmann said OPM was concerned that a provision in the Act called for a signed affidavit to substitute for a marriage certificate used by married employees could lead to fraud.
Senator Lieberman said his Committee would consider this concern and would make revisions.
“We understand that this is something we’ve got to work on,” he said. “It will require education and the presentation of the fact. But I think it’s important. It’s not only the right thing to do but important to the Federal Government in terms of attracting and retaining the best employees.”
Senator Lieberman said he remained hopeful the Bill would move forward next year.
“This is the first hearing we’ve ever had on this subject,” he said. “We’ll be back next year with, I hope, more sponsors, and perhaps we can get it passed.”
Other Senators on the committee expressed strong support for the Bill, saying they believed it would help the Federal Government provide a fair and equitable workplace.
Other witnesses, including an IBM executive and leaders of the two largest Federal employee unions, also expressed strong support for the Bill.
President of the National Treasury Employees Union, Colleen Kelley and program manager with the American Federation of Government Employees, Sherri Bracey said offering benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees would help the Government retain qualified workers at a time when many experienced employees were nearing retirement.
They said Federal Agencies were being forced to compete for highly skilled and experienced workers with private sector companies that offered the partner benefits.
“There has long been a very sound principle that has been embraced on a bipartisan basis,” Ms Kelley said. “That principle is that fair and comprehensive employee benefits in our society are best promoted by the Federal Government operating as a model employer.”
She said however that the Federal Government had become a “laggard” on the employee benefits front as more than 53 per cent of Fortune 500 companies provided domestic partner benefits for employees and the Government didn’t.
IBM Global Business Development Executive, Yvette Burton said domestic partner benefits served as a vital talent development opportunity at the leadership level.
“In a nutshell, it can improve low productivity and morale caused by inequitable workplace practices, thereby creating a positive work environment,” Ms Burton said.
7 October, 2008
INDIA
Maternity leave for adoptive mothers
Kolkata’s State Government is considering matching the Central Government and offering maternity leave for adoptive female State Government employees.
The State Social Welfare Department is to recommend the measure to a commission reviewing pay structures and leave for State employees.
“We have decided to write to the Fifth State Pay Commission - when it asks us for suggestions - to let adoptive female employees get maternity leave, like it is offered to those who have biological children,” the Secretary of State Social Welfare, Rinchen Tempo said.
A Finance Department official said “maternity leave for adoptive female State Government employees” was being considered.
“The Central Government has been offering 135 days of leave for such female employees, which is similar to maternity leave given to employees who become biological mothers. We are waiting for the proposal to come,” the official said.
He said the State Government presently offered 135 days of maternity leave to female employees when they had children biologically but those who adopted children could only use their earned leave as maternity leave without producing a medical certificate.
Central Government employees had been receiving 135 days maternity leave for biological and adopted children.
Known as “child adoptive leave’’, the benefit of leave was extended to adoptive mothers in 2006, “on adoption of a child up to one year of age on the lines of maternity leave admissible to natural mothers”.
The Central Government has now also increased maternity leave for its employees to six months and approved paid leave for two years to take care of children.
Atmaja, an organisation of adoptive parents based in Kolkata, has demanded equality for adoptive female State Government employees several times. The organisation’s chairperson, Nilanjana Gupta, said it was high time the West Bengal Government extended the benefit to adoptive female employees.
“It is strange this has not been done in West Bengal, which has one of the highest numbers of adoptions in the country,’’ Ms Gupta said.
7 October, 2008
BHUTAN
New Government stifled by PS Act
Bhutan’s Government is to try to wrest back some powers from its Civil Service but Prime Minister Yeshey Zimba said the Government was being held back by the current Civil Service Act.
“In a democracy, the Ministers are accountable to the people and the Civil Service is the instrument of the Government to serve the people,’’ Mr Zimba said.
“Going by the Constitution and Civil Service rules, there are very serious limitations and we can’t do much by the existing system.”
He said a draft Civil Service Act would be tabled but Mr Zimba and his Government were still to determine “how the Civil Service should function and how it should act with the Government”.
The Prime Minister said there had been growing concern that the Government was struggling to get its Civil Service to deliver its election commitments to the people who voted it in as politicians had no direct hand in the termination, demotion, transfer and promotion of Civil Servants.
Those decisions rested with the Royal Civil Service Commission.
Mr Zimba said there was also no clear delineation of functions between Ministers and Department Secretaries, with both having overlapping powers.
Although most Ministers described their function as “policy and plan making” and Secretaries had the function of “implementation”, the Commission’s manual described one Secretary’s main functions as being to “direct and oversee the formulation of policies and plans of the Ministry”.
The Commission also said the Secretary should work ‘independently’ with only “minimum supervision” from the Ministers, Cabinet, and Government.
Finance Secretary, Lam Dorji said the current situation, where Ministers or the Cabinet could only make recommendations to the Commission, worked well with the present Government.
“In future, if there’s a new set of Ministers, probably things may become difficult, but just now things are moving, which is important,” he said.
Prime Minister Zimba also admitted the current legislation was not creating serious problems at the moment but if it was not resolved soon it could become serious in the future.
Chief Justice Sonam Tobgye said the Royal Civil Service Commission was very powerful and Parliament needed to protect the interests of the people, the Civil Service and the country.
“There’s a concentration of powers with RCSC because they have the power to make rules and regulations with no separation of policies, execution, implementation and review,” the Chief Justice said.
He said Ministers had an obligation and mandate to the people who elected them, and Civil Servants should not get involved in political affairs but follow the policies and plans of the executive.
7 October, 2008
IRELAND
Banker identifies PS savings
One of Ireland’s top bankers has claimed that the Government could save €1 billion a year (A$1.8 billion) by forcing State Departments and Agencies to become more efficient.
The Chief Executive of the National Irish Bank, Andrew Healy said redeploying officials where necessary, cutting the number of Agencies and putting some services out on contract would create a windfall for the Government.
Speaking to the Institute of Directors, Mr Healy used the UK as an example where every Government Department there was required to make efficiencies of 1 per cent in its Budget every year.
“If we adopted the same approach now in Ireland, we could reduce spending by at least €500 million (A$908 million) in the first year, €1 billion in the second year and so on. The cumulative impact could be very large, very quickly - €3 billion (A$5.45 billion) in the first three years,” he said.
Mr Healy said that with 800 State Agencies there was one “for every 5,000 people in Ireland’’. He said that if they exist they must have a “built-in life expectancy’’.
He said the Euro Changeover Board, set up to manage the Euro's introduction, showed the Government “can get it right”.
“It was set up to do a job and it did so, excellently by all accounts,” Mr Healy said. “When the changeover was complete, it was shut down.”
He said to be effective, the Government should be asking if a particular service or back-office function should be done by the Public Service at all.
“It is questionable if the public sector should remain top-heavy with jobs that are not focused on front-line services,” he said.
“Pensions, payrolls, IT services, information-processing are all areas which could be competitively outsourced, freeing up civil servants for more crucial work.
He said right across the Public Service spectrum, thousands of people were in jobs that didn’t need to be in the Public Service at all.
He urged the Government to take “bold and sometimes unpopular decisions’’ to reform the Public Service, but said such a change would help to avoid cutting back social services.
7 October, 2008
MALAYSIA
Approvals for second jobs eased
It would now be easier for Public Servants to supplement their incomes after the Public Service Department eased the rules surrounding second jobs.
Under the new arrangements, Government employees need now only to seek approval from their heads of Department.
Director-General of PSD, Tan Sri Ismail Adam, said Civil Servants still needed to ensure that their part-time work did not interfere with their responsibilities to the Service, but in order to expedite the approval process, Heads of Departments could use their discretion to allow employees to work part-time instead of seeking approval from his Department.
“The Government understands the pressures they are facing in light of the challenging economy and this move would definitely ease their burden,” Mr Adam said.
The decision was welcomed by the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services with the President, Omar Osman saying his organisation had appointed representatives within the Civil Service to ensure that Public Servants who worked second jobs did not abuse the privilege.
He said Public Servants had been told to start their part-time jobs after five and to make sure they stopped by midnight.
“We do not want our members to work till the break of dawn and when they reach their office the next morning, they start looking for storerooms to sleep," Mr Osman said.
He said fast approval would allow Public Servants to get started quickly on their second jobs.
He said more than 100 civil servants have applied for permission to do part-time jobs, including giving lectures and tuition, driving taxis, breeding fish, working as petrol station attendants and setting up stalls at night markets.
The PSD expected more applications from the 800,000 Government employees since the rising cost of living had prompted the Government to open the door for employees to supplement their income last June.
Mr Adam estimated that 450,000 Public Servants were badly affected by rising prices, especially the high cost of fuel and food.
7 October, 2008
PHILIPPINES
Better training for a better PS
The Provincial Government of Davao del Norte in the Philippines is training its employees to make them better Public Servants and less likely to become corrupt.
Speaking at a conference, the Provincial Human Resource Management Officer, Monica Salido said the plan was part of the Provincial Government’s vision to make Davao del Norte a first-rate Province.
Ms Salido said employees were given seminars on corrupt practices, family enrichment and financial management, developing the right attitude in public service, stress management and personality development.
She said the courses were designed to give to the employees the chance to not only develop to their fullest potential but also to enable their families to handle finances better.
“This to free employees from the evils of corruption; we develop their skills on financial management.” she said.
Ms Salido said that development of employees' skills and competency levels would go a long way in helping the efforts of the Government to adhere to principles of good governance.
She said the Provincial Government had 725 full-time and 461 casual workers and admitted that attaining excellence in Public Service was “no magic” and would take a lot of work.
Meanwhile, at the same conference, Civil Service Commission Provincial Director Richard Ortiz of Compostela Valley Field Office said good governance would effectively go hand in hand with personnel development because employees were a vital component of Public Service in government.
Mr Ortiz said that public service “was a noble endeavour" as it presented the opportunity to serve the public.
He said Government employees had a much higher level of work which went beyond merely earning income to support the daily needs because they were there to “serve the public.”
“So, we have to see to it that the personnel are qualified or fitting to their positions,” he said.
Aside from qualifications, Mr Ortiz said Government employees should also be highly motivated to perform beyond their basic functions.
“They should be able, capable and willing to walk the extra mile,” he said.
7 October, 2008
SUDAN
President calls for PS reform
The First Vice President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), General Salva Kiir Mayardit, has called for the introduction of Public Service reform.
Speaking at the 6th Governors Forum of Southern, Sudan, General Kiir also called for further decentralisation of governance in the semi-autonomous region.
He called on Government institutions to begin reforms in accordance with guidelines to be provided by the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development.
The President also said that both public and private media must undertake mass education on the importance of reform and its implication on the future of the country.
He said his Government had already identified functions that should be further devolved to State Governments and they would also be required to further decentralise to Counties as part of the reform program.
General Kiir predicted some parts of Government may try to resist the reform because it could “challenge the status quo and destabilise the comfort zones of the few individuals in the system.
“Those few individuals whose comfort zones shall be affected will try to resist the changes being introduced, but I want to remind us all that this nation is bigger than any one of us, so we must by all means ensure that we sacrifice our individual interests for the benefit of the country,” he said.
General Kiir said decentralisation was an aspect of the wider reform that was meant to ensure that Government services reached the people and that it was in line with the philosophy of “taking towns to the people”.
The President’s speech was followed by presentations of the 10 Southern Sudan States’ Governors on their achievements and challenges during the year, in which insecurity, need for administrative and fiscal decentralisation, workforce downsizing and harmonisation of tax collection at border points were prominent in their presentations.