In our view, missing in the Public Service is a culture embodying a set of core values and standards which are accepted and treated as sacrosanct to the extent that their breach would evoke responses of criticism and even condemnation of violators and insistence that the “right” thing be done. Such a development would undoubtedly contribute to the establishment of a professional Public Service and represent a welcome departure from the state of affairs in which many tend to adopt and take positions on the grounds of expediency rather that principle. This to many is not altogether surprising since the latter is a marked characteristic of the society in which the Public Service is located.
Report of the Commission of Inquiry
Last week, we examined Chapter 3 of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service. That chapter dealt with issues relating to training and development and has some important suggestions as to the way forward in relation to having in place a well-trained and professional Public Service.
Today, we discuss the four remaining chapters of the Report covering the compensation system, industrial relations, retirement, and the Public Service Ministry.
Compensation system
The Commission noted that over the last two decades, the Government has violated its contractual and legal obligations to bargain in good faith with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU). Instead, it unilaterally imposed across-the-board salary increases of 5-8% without regard to individual job performance. The effect of this practice is that the salaries of persons with years of service become closely aligned with those of new recruits, thereby creating a feeling of disenchantment among employees with long years of service whose performances are not taken into account.
Various allowances have not been adjusted to reflect current market rates for over 25 years. In addition, wages and salaries are well below acceptable levels, exacerbated by the growing number of contracted employees enjoying higher levels of pay compared with their counterparts in the traditional Public Service. This adversely impacts on job performance and employee morale.
The Commission has made the following key recommendations to remedy the situation:
(a) Undertake an organizational restructuring to rationalize the status of pensionable and contract employees and to “de-bunch” employees in the salary structure;
(b) Continue the restructuring by way of a thoroughly conducted job evaluation study;
(c) Provide the necessary training for personnel having responsibility for maintaining the job and salary structure;
(d) Provide mid-point differential of 20% for additional responsibilities;
(e) Reduce degree of overlap between all grades to avoid double and triple overlaps;
(f) Adjust the current structure to reflect an orderly and constant spread across all grades;
(g) Implement a well-constructed and managed base pay programme to ensure competitiveness and fairness in pay among positions, contribution to strategic objectives, and efficiency and effectiveness;
(h) Redesign compensation system to assist in attracting the qualified and suitable persons to the Public Service;
(i) Transfer the responsibility for wages and salaries administration from the Ministry of Finance to the Department of the Public Service; and
(j) Conduct an audit of current employees’ pay arrangements, undertake a de-bunching exercise and adjust the salaries of all employees accordingly.
Industrial relations
The Commission noted that since the 1999 Armstrong Arbitration Award, there has been a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Government and the GPSU, which has had serious consequences for the salary structure and merit increment awards based on staff performance appraisals. Accordingly, it recommended that the Agreement be restored in keeping with the Union’s legally recognized status under the Trade Union Recognition Act 33 of 1997 and ratified ILO Convention No. 87 and 151 and that wages and salaries and allowances for Public Servants be agreed through this process.
The Commission referred to the practice in Trinidad and Tobago in the management of human resources and industrial relations in the public sector where there is a constitutionally established Salaries Review Commission (SRC). The SRC is mandated to review the salaries and other conditions of service of holders of public office, including the Office of the President, political offices (those of the national parliament and local government bodies), offices of the management of the Public Service, and the management of statutory bodies. Accordingly, the Commission recommended that consideration be given to establishing a suitable model for determining the remuneration of highly level political and Public Service offices, including the President, Vice-Presidents, Prime Minister, Ministers, Leader of the Opposition, Members of the National Assembly, Permanent Secretaries, Regional Executive Officers and Regional Chairpersons.
It also recommended that the Labour Act be amended after consultation with the GPSU to provide for the establishment of a Wages and Salaries Commission to review wages and salaries disputes and upon an impasse at conciliation and to make recommendations to the National Assembly.
The Commission referred to Article 215 of the Constitution and the related legislation, which provide for the establishment of a Public Service Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals in respect of decisions taken by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Teaching Service Commission, the Police Service Commission, or the Commissioner of Police. However, since May 2005, there has been a hiatus in the appointment of members of the Tribunal. The Commission made it clear that the Tribunal’s existence and functioning are “essential to ensure fairness and justice for Public Servants who may feel aggrieved over decisions of the Public Service Commission and wish to seek redress thereof”. Accordingly, the Commission recommended the early re-appointment of the Tribunal in keeping with the Public Service Appellate Act of 1984.
Retirement age for Public Servants
The Commission referred to the retirement age of 55 years in the Public Service with the option to retire at age 50 subject to approval from the relevant authority. However, public sector agencies such as the Bank of Guyana, the National Insurance Scheme, the Guyana Revenue Authority, and staff of the Audit Office have a retirement age of 60 years. In the private sector, the retirement age is between 60 and 65 years with no fixed retirement age for top executives. As regards Parliamentarians and Ministers, there is no fixed retirement age while for the staff of the University of Guyana, members of the Judiciary and the Auditor General the retirement age is 65 years.
The Commission noted the practice that prevails in the British Virgin Islands, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, Barbados, Dominica, United Nations organisations, and South Africa, all of which have a retirement age of between 60 years and 66.5 years. Canada has abolished the retirement age on the grounds of non-discrimination. The Commission agreed that the age of 55 years is too early an age for retirement, considering that Public Servants “would have acquired deep knowledge and wide experience in public management and in their professional and specialist fields. Therefore, it is a great loss of skills and expertise to the Public Service with a retirement age at 55. This is one of the arguments used to justify the re-employment of retired public servants on contract immediately upon retirement”.
The Commission is of the view that a higher retirement age of 65 years would provide for not only higher pensions for public officers but also greater contribution to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) for an additional period of five years. In this way, there would be a mutual benefit to the State, the public employees and the NIS. It therefore recommended the lifting of the retirement age to 65 years, and the prohibition of rehiring of persons who have attained this age in an established public service position. The Commission also recommended that consideration be given to increasing the monthly pensions of retired Public Officers who are in receipt of the minimum pension to a level equal or closer to the Public Service minimum wage/salary.
Public Service Ministry
The current Administration has removed ministerial status for the Public Service Ministry (PSM) and has re-designated it a Department in the Ministry of the Presidency. This that did not find favour with the Commission which felt that the change has “in large measure devalued or diluted the importance of the Public Service as established by virtue of Burgess-Hunn’s recommendations, and as supported by the Collins Commission. Both of which had envisaged the PSM as primus inter paris (first among equals), i.e. of Ministries”. According to the Commission’s understanding, the Department of Public Service authorises the strength of each Ministry, managed through its inventory of authorised positions.
The Commission noted that 2016 Budget Estimates reflected 14,466 persons in the authorised establishment who are employed by the Public Service Commission of whom 4,471 persons account for persons employed on contract and placed in 1,037 job titles.
The Commission expressed the view that it appears incongruous for an agency designated a Department to exercise authority and oversight over other agencies that are designated Ministries. Accordingly, it has recommended that the Permanent Secretary of the Department of the Public Service be designated the Head of the Public Service. Other key recommendations are:
(a) Every Ministry/Department/ Region should have a strategic plan with its attendant strategies and actions to ensure that key objectives are achieved within defined timeframes, in accordance with budgeted annual estimates. There should also be a planning, monitoring and evaluation process to measure outcomes;
(b) The Department of the Public Service and the PSC be constituted with professional personnel with integrity to rebuild public trust and confidence in the Public Service;
(c) The Department of the Public Service, with its authority and oversight functions, transition its ‘Personnel’ function to that of Human Resource Management and Development so as to facilitate the efficient and effective implementation of Government policies and programmes; and
(d) Succession planning be one of the means of preparing multiple candidates for foreseen and unexpected job openings in the Public Service.
In concluding, the Commission indicated that in its view, missing in the Public Service is a culture embodying a set of core values and standards which are accepted and treated as “sacrosanct to the extent that their breach would evoke responses of criticism and even condemnation of violators and insistence that the ‘right’ thing be done. Such a development would undoubtedly contribute to the establishment of a professional Public Service and represent a welcome departure from the state of affairs in which many tend to adopt and take positions on the grounds of expediency rather that principle. This to many is not altogether surprising since the latter is a marked characteristic of the society in which the Public Service is located”.
