Reacting to reports circulating in the media, Minister for the Public Service and Administration, Ms Noxolo Kiviet, said both the management of suspensions and sick leave in the Public Service are subjected to strict legislative and policy prescripts of the Government. The Minister said public servants being placed on longer than the stipulated suspension periods and those on prolonged sick leave put a strain on limited financial and human resources.
While a caring Government is duty-bound and legally required to provide employees with severe health issues at any given time, the Minister emphasised that this depth of empathy is strictly managed to prevent potential abuse by undeserving beneficiaries of the policy.
“The current position of the Government is that employees afflicted by illness are allowed a fair opportunity to recover from such illness, and in so doing, they would continue to be productive once fully recovered,” said Minister Kiviet.
She explained that the management of ill-health among Government employees is first and foremost prescribed by the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, which provide for a minimum right to paid sick leave that is strictly managed. In cases where employees exhaust their allocated annual leave, the temporary incapacity leave is invoked and managed with the help of specialists and in line with the specific policies and procedures.
“The granting of long incapacity leave follows a strict regime that includes an investigation and assessment by an independent Health Risk Manager. The independent Health Risk Managers are specialists in occupational health and advise the employer on, among others, the validity, the extent of the illness, the appropriate duration for recovery, and, where applicable, the management of the medical condition and/or the need to consider workplace interventions,” she explained.
On the advice of medical and other health specialists, the employer and the employees might have to consider retirement due to ill-health as per the Policy and Procedure on Incapacity Leave and Ill-health Retirements (PILIR).
Discipline management in the Public Service similarly adheres to the labour regime and Public Service-specific policies and regulations. According to Minister Kiviet, while there are clear legislative and policy guidelines for managing discipline in the Public Service, including suspensions, labour relations is a complex and dynamic process from which Government as the employer continues to learn.
“A disciplinary process is at the employer’s behest and rests at the discretion of the Head of Department. Suspensions are not only costly to the state in terms of salaries and benefits but also costly to the colleagues of the employee on suspension, as services will still require delivery. It is against this background that the manager responsible for this process must exercise their duty of care as the effect negatively impacts staff morale and financial resources,” Minister Kiviet said.
Several interventions are underway to address some of the lessons learned and unintended consequences arising from the current employee health and wellness and discipline management in the Public Service, including the following:
- The introduction of the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity, and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU) to support departments in managing disciplinary processes and precautionary suspensions.
On health and wellness, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has initiated an investigation in partnership with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to do the following:
- Establish the reported trends on sick leave use and likely abuse in the Public Service.
- To establish whether sick leave and PILIR are applied correctly.
