The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is keeping a watch on possible job consolidations in the Public Service and calling for wider consultations – particularly with the union.
This is in response to a July 6 memo sent from the Acting Director General, Human Resources, in the Ministry of the Public Service and Talent Development, to the head of the Public Service, directors general, permanent secretaries and officers of related grade.
They were directed to consolidate duties and organisational arrangements; identify functions that may be delivered through shared service arrangements; and identify posts and officers that can be redeployed to support the operationalisation of newly-established ministries/departments.
“Following the recent General Elections, a few new ministries have been established and there has been a reassignment of portfolio responsibilities in some instances. These changes will obviously require staffing to support the operational and service delivery mandates of these ministries,” the memo said.
“At the same time, the current fiscal environment, influenced by ongoing geopolitical and economic pressures, requires prudent management of public expenditure and some restraint in the area of personal emoluments. Accordingly, the Public Service must seek to optimise the use of existing human resources before consideration is given to the creation of additional posts or the engagement of new personnel.”
Matter of concern
NUPW general secretary Richard Green told the DAILY NATION it was a matter of concern for the union.
“Even though the memorandum does not state that public officers are to be laid off, there’s still a concern that this may lead to some dislocation of persons in circumstances where . . . many of them [are] still in temporary positions and in acting positions.
“Words such as consolidation, shared services, redeployment, they still have practical implications,” he added.
Among the new ministries created after the February 11 General Election were Public and Private Investment, and Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice.
Green said several ministries were already understaffed.
“There is a consistent complaint that there is a shortage of staff in many departments, resulting in persons taking on additional responsibilities beyond the scope of the job description, which is having an impact on people’s workloads,” he explained.
Green said this was resulting in some “burnout and officers complaining that when persons . . . retired or resigned, that they’re not being replaced through the Public Service”. He added that was having a significant impact on productivity and also had implications for promotions and acting appointments.
The trade unionist also questioned the timing of the memo since a regrading exercise was currently being undertaken.
“That job evaluation exercise is supposed to address the areas where persons are in the alignment of jobs and so on, and attaching specific values to those jobs. It would have been more appropriate to look at that after the review of the report of the job evaluation exercise.
“The other concern that we have with this is the relatively short notice that the Public Service managers are given to submit their recommendations, because we are of the opinion that that short notice does not give adequate time for a real comprehensive review. Because of that, it could result in some flaws,” he noted.
The July 6 memo stated that recommendations are to be made on or before July 17 (tomorrow).
There were layoffs in 2018 and 2019, with Government promising that the most vulnerable would not bear the brunt of reforms in the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation programme.
(SAT)
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