pscbc dispute resolution workshop case law monitor
TRANSCRIPT
PSCBC DISPUTE RESOLUTION
WORKSHOP
CASE LAW MONITOR & LABOUR LAW
AMENDMENTS
29 JULY 2019
THE RANCH – PROTEA HOTEL
Presenter: Ms Thembekile Makhubele
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PSC MANDATE
PSC RULES ON REFERRAL AND INVESTIGATION OF
GRIEVANCES, 2016
PURPOSE OF THE RULES
MOU WITH PSCBC
CHALLENGES/ISSUES IN MANAGING GRIEVANCES
REFERRAL OF GRIEVANCES TO THE PSC
REFERRAL AND LODGING BY HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS
2
CONTENTS (cont..)
CONSIDERATION OF GRIEVANCES BY THE PSC
COMMUNICATION OF OUTCOME OF GRIEVANCE
INVESTIGATION
MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS
REPORTS PRODUCED BY THE PSC TO PROMOTE SOUND
LABOUR RELATIONS IN PUBLIC SERVICE
CONCLUSION
3
The aim of the presentation is:
• To give effect to the recently signed MOU between the PSC and the
PSBC aimed at providing cooperation and collaboration with a view to
sharing resources and contributing towards the enhancement of sound
labour relations in the public service.
• The aim of this presentation is to share information which will assist to
gain a better understanding of the challenges experienced in the
management of grievances, which could be regarded as the first official
step in the dispute resolution process.
• To provide advice to ensure that these challenges are addressed to
ensure that dispute resolution is enhanced in the Limpopo Provincial
Government specifically, and the public service in general.
INTRODUCTION
4
WHO ARE WE?
• The Public Service Commission is an independent
Constitutional body established in terms of Chapter 10 of
the Constitution to promote the constitutional values and
principles, especially those governing public administration
set out in section 195 throughout the Public Service.
• The PSC’s main objective is to provide effective technical
oversight over the public service nationally and provincially.
• To this end, the PSC conducts evidence-based research,
investigations, inspections, monitoring and evaluation
involving the gathering and collation of qualitative and
quantitative data on public administration for use by the
Legislatures and the Executive.
• The PSC is accountable to the National Assembly.
5
THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALUES AND
PRINCIPLES
6
PSC AREAS OF OVERSIGHT
• The Constitutional oversight mandate of the PSC is wide and, in summary,
covers the following areas:
Organisation of the Public Service (the structural arrangements of
departments in the Public Service).
Administration of the Public Service (all the procedures, policy
frameworks, accountability mechanisms, etc. that ensure the functioning
of the Public Service).
Personnel procedures and practices of the Public Service (e.g.
recruitment, transfers, promotions and dismissals).
7
PSC AREAS OF OVERSIGHT (cont..)
Public administration practices (all the functions and activities executed
by the Public Service to provide a service to the people).
Adherence to applicable procedures in the Public Service (compliance
with the letter and law of prescribed rules / polices / procedures).
he extent to which the values and principles set out in section 195 of the
Constitution are complied with.
8
The mandate of the PSC is outlined in the following:
• Section 196 (4) (ii) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
mandates the PSC to investigate grievances of employees in the public service
concerning official acts or omissions, and to recommend appropriate remedies.
• Section 35 (1) of the Public Service Act, 1994, provides that an employee may
lodge a grievance concerning an official act or omission with the relevant EA. If
that grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of such an employee, the
relevant EA shall submit the grievance to the PSC in the manner and time or
within the period prescribed by the PSC in terms of section 35(2).
• Section 11 of the PSC Act, 1997, stipulates that the PSC may make rules as tothe investigation, monitoring and evaluation of those matters to which section196(4) of the Constitution relates, the procedure to be followed at any suchinvestigation, the documents to be submitted to the PSC in connection with anysuch investigation, and the manner in which and the time within which the saiddocuments shall be submitted.
PSC MANDATE (GRIEVANCES)
9
PSC RULES ON REFERRAL AND INVESTIGATION OF
GRIEVANCES - 2016
During the 2015/16 financial year, the Public Service Commission (PSC)
reviewed the Grievance Rules, 2003.
Amendments were made and submitted to the Office of the Chief State
Law Advisor (OCSLA) for certification. The OCSLA advised that in
reviewing the Rules, the PSC would be operating outside the
parameters of its mandate. The PSC was advised to draft its own rules
on the investigation of grievances.
The PSC accepted the legal opinion and commenced with the drafting of
the PSC Rules on Referral and Investigation
of Grievances of Employees in Public Service.
The Rules were submitted to the
OCSLA for certification in February 2016.
The Rules were subsequently approved by the PSC.
10
PURPOSE OF THE RULES
The purpose of the Rules is to—
determine the procedure for the referral of grievances to the PSC;
determine the procedure for the direct lodging of grievances by
heads of departments;
provide for timeframes within which grievances may be referred to or
lodged with the PSC;
determine the procedure for the investigation and consideration of
grievances by the PSC;
determine service standards applicable to the PSC in investigating
and resolving grievances; and
provide for mechanisms to monitor grievances managed by
departments
11
MOU WITH PSCBC
In May 2019 the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Public
Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the purpose of cooperation
and collaboration with a view to sharing resources and contributing
towards the enhancement of sound labour relations in the public
service.
Areas of collaboration, amongst others, includes:
Grievance and Dispute Resolution – both handle grievances and
collaboratively contribute towards improving the management of
grievances and disputes in the public service.
Monitoring and Evaluation – collaboratively develop or build on
already existing instruments for monitoring non/implementation of
recommendations and awards issued to Departments; monitor non-
compliance with rules, procedures, policies and other prescripts.
12
CHALLENGES/ISSUES IN THE HANDLING AND MANAGEMENT OF GRIEVANCES
Non submission of documents which hampers
the speedy resolution of grievances
Emanates mostly from both the Department and
employees not providing required information to the PSC.
Speedy resolution of grievances: 30/45 days by Department to deal
with the grievances or request extension in “good faith”. Aggrieved
also refuse to comply with requests for extension because of “trust
issues” with Labour Relations unit.
Non-adherence to timeframes - 90 days by aggrieved to lodge or
inform Departments about dissatisfaction.
Failure by the Departments to attend to grievances (Most grievances
received are in terms of Rule 3(4)(a) & (b) of the PSC Rules, 2016).
Aggrieved victimized or prejudiced directly or indirectly after lodging
the grievance with the Department.
13
CHALLENGES/ISSUES IN THE HANDLING AND
MANAGEMENT OF GRIEVANCES (cont..)
• Prescribed Grievance Form “Annexure A” not used by aggrieved; use
of letters mostly.
• Forum shopping by aggrieved (Matters referred to PSC as well as
other bargaining councils)
• Lack of support by unions to assist members to declare disputes when
Departments refuse to implement recommendations, instead of
following-up endlessly with departments and/or PSC at the
disadvantage of the aggrieved.
• Lack of union support to assist employees to enforce arbitration
awards, instead of lodging a grievance regarding Department's refusal
to implement awards.
• High number of grievances of PMDS caused by Departments’
practices of reducing scores unilaterally without giving an employee
the opportunity to provide additional motivation.
14
REFERRAL OF GRIEVANCES TO THE PSC
WHO CAN REFER A GRIEVANCE TO THE PSC
A grievance can be referred to the PSC by the following:
Executive authority (EA) when requested by an aggrieved
employee who is not satisfied with the decision of the EA (Rule
3(3) – within 10 days.
Aggrieved employee if the EA fails to refer within 10 days as
requested, or if the department failed to deal with the grievance
within the timeframes stipulated in the department’s grievance
procedure (Rule 3(4)) and there was no agreement for extension.
Representative of aggrieved – trade union (Rule 3(5) > both
complete a Grievance Referral Form; or family representative
(Rule 3(7)) > should provide statement containing proof that he /
she qualifies to refer the grievance in terms of Rule 3(7).
15
REFERRAL OF GRIEVANCES TO THE PSC (cont..)
MANNER OF REFERRAL
Grievances may be referred to the PSC by—
registered post, in which case the employee or
executive authority must keep proof that the
grievance was posted (Rule 4(2)(a));
e-mail using the following e-mail address:
[email protected] (Rule 4(2)(b));
facsimile, in which case the employee or executive authority must
keep
proof that the facsimile was successfully transmitted to the PSC
(Rule 4(2)(c)); or
delivered by hand at any of the offices of the PSC, in which case
the PSC must provide the employee or executive authority with
proof of receipt (Rule 4(2)(d)).
16
REFERRAL OF GRIEVANCES TO THE PSC (cont..)
17
REQUIREMENTS FOR REFERRAL
Executive authority or delegated employee
Referral must be done in writing by completing the
Grievance Referral Form.
Delegated employee must provide proof of delegation.
A list of all documents / information that must be attached to the Grievance Referral Form is provided in Rule 5 (2).
Aggrieved employee
• Referral may only be done after following the necessary steps providedfor in the department’s grievance procedure.
• Referral must be in line with the timeframe prescribed in the department’sgrievance procedure.
• Any grievance not lodged formally with the department shall not beconsidered by the PSC.
• Details on requirements for referral by aggrieved employees are providedunder Rule 5 (3) and 5 (4)
REFERRAL AND LODGING BY HEADS OF
DEPARTMENTS
CIRCUMSTANCES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR REFERRAL
Referral by the HOD
The HOD may refer the grievance if it is not resolved within 45 days of receipt
thereof by the executive authority or within the timeframes agreed between
them in writing (Rule 7(1). The list of documents to be attached is provided in Rule
7 (2).
Referral of HOD case by the EA
The EA may refer the grievance of the HOD to the PSC if he /she is of the opinion
that he / she would not be able to deal with the grievance (Rule 7(3)(a)).
The EA must refer the grievance of the HOD to the PSC (Rule 7(3)(c)) if, after
having provided feedback to the HOD, the HOD—
informs the EA of his or her dissatisfaction in writing within 10 days of receipt of
the feedback;
provides reasons for his or her dissatisfaction in writing; and
requests the EA in writing to refer the grievance to the PSC.18
REFERRAL AND LODGING BY HEADS OF
DEPARTMENTS (cont..)
HOD may lodge his / her grievance directly with the PSC (Rule 7(5) if—
the EA has refused to receive his / her Grievance Form; or
when trying to resolve the grievance informally with the EA before completing a
Grievance Form, the EA—
- fails to respond to his or her correspondence; or
- refuses to advise him / her by when
the matter would be resolved.
The HOD must lodge directly with the PSC within 90 days of becoming aware of
the official act or omission by the EA.
In lodging directly with the PSC the HOD must—
complete the Grievance Referral Form and attach copies of relevant
documents;
provide written reasons for direct referral;
inform the EA of the direct lodging with the PSC by serving him/her with a copy
of the Grievance Referral Form and documents submitted to the PSC; and
provide the PSC with proof (acknowledgement of receipt by the EA).
19
20
CONSIDERATION OF GRIEVANCES BY THE PSC
The PSC may after pre-assessment decide to—
close the grievance without any further investigation for reasons listed
under Rule 13;
resolve the grievance through mediation (Rule 16);
conduct a formal inquiry into the matter in terms of section 10 of the
Public Service Commission Act (Rule 17);
refer the matter to an appropriate public body or authority, including
the Public Protector; the Military Ombud; etc.; or
investigate the grievance and subject it to deliberations before a Panel
of Commissioners (Rule 12 (1) (c), who must make a finding—
- that the allegation is true, supported by evidence and therefore
substantiated; or
- that the allegation is not true, not supported by evidence and
therefore unsubstantiated; or
- that the PSC has no jurisdiction to deal with the matter; or
- that the matter must be deferred for further investigation;
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COMMUNICATION OF OUTCOME OF GRIEVANCE
INVESTIGATION– Rule 15
The PSC records its findings and reasons for any decision taken in Rule
12(1) in writing and where applicable also make written recommendations to
the relevant department.
The PSC communicates the outcome of its investigation in writing to the
EA, and where the grievance was referred by an aggrieved employee, also to
the aggrieved employee — (Rule 12(3)) .
Communication of the outcome must be through a letter containing the
following (Rule 15(2)) :
The name and PERSAL number of the aggrieved employee whose
grievance was referred to the PSC;
A brief summary of the facts;
The findings of the PSC and reasons therefor, which must include the
applicable law and prescripts; and
Recommendations, where this is applicable.
The EA to whom a recommendation(s) has been made must, within 10 days
of receipt of the PSC's letter advise if this will be implemented or not.
MONITORING IMPLEMENTATION OF
RECOMMENDATIONS – Rule 19
The EA must within 10 days of receipt of the findings and
recommendations notify the Commission whether or not he / she is going to
implement the recommendations made by the PSC. If the response is in the
negative he / she must furnish reasons for not implementing.
If the EA decides to implement the recommendations by the PSC, he / she
must provide the PSC with an update and proof of implementation,
within 60 days of the date of receipt of the findings and
recommendations.
The PSC shall on a six-monthly basis request a head of department to
provide the PSC with information relating to grievance resolution in his or
her department, in order to enable the PSC to—
analyse trends and to promote the cultivation of good human
resource management and career-development in order to
maximise human potential in the public service;
promote accountability in public administration; and
report annually to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures.
22
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED WITH PSC
FOR THE 2012/13 TO THE 2018/19 FINANCIAL YEARS
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
1
34
45
52
47
105 74
GRIEVANCES DEALT BY PSC
23
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED WITH PSC
FOR THE 2012/13 TO THE 2018/19 FINANCIAL YEARS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
PM
DS
Un
derm
inin
g o
f A
uth
ority
Re
fusal to
apro
ve a
pplic
ation
Pro
ce
dure
unfa
irne
ss
sala
ry p
roble
ms
Fill
ing
of p
ost
Ufa
ir tre
atm
ent
Oth
er
7
30
7
12
18
12
5
20
17
3 34
3 3
11
8
14
10
3
15
10
1920
5
23
28
4
01
15
5
1011
NATURE OF GRIEVANCES
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
24
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED IN LIMPOPO
PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 2013/14 TO THE 2018/19
FINANCIAL YEARS
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
1215
1135
1219
1348
1009968
669
GRIEVANCE REPORTED BY DEPARTMENTS IN TERMS OF RULE 1.1 OF THE GRIEVANCE RULES
25
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED IN LIMPOPO
PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 2013/14 TO THE
2018/19 FINANCIAL YEARS
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
24%
46%
2%
16%
46%48%
22%
52%
18%
30%
44%
50%
54%
2%
80%
54%
10%
2%
COMPLIANCE WITH TIMEFRAME FOR FINALISATION OF GRIEVANCES
Within the timeframe Outside the timeframe No information Provided
26
• According to the records the Limpopo Provincial Departments reported a total of 2 132 cases forboth reporting periods.
• A total of 917 cases were reported for the financial year 2012/13 and a total 2124 cases werereported during 2014/15 financial year.
Example of details information per year : 2012/13 – 2013/14
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED IN LIMPOPO
PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 2012/13 TO THE 2017/18
FINANCIAL YEARS
27
• The rate of resolution of grievances decreased from 26% cases to 20.6% cases.
• The figure below shows the nature of grievances.
PMS Unpaidleave
Salarymatters
promotion Jobevaluation
Actingallowance
Benefits Overtime OSD Unfairtreatment
109
53
20
38
54
14 148
2919
100
17
4
41 38
2315
9
28 26
Apr- Sep 2012 Oct-Mar 2013
Most grievances in Limpopo relates to PMS (209). Following closely is job
evaluations, upgrading of posts with 142, then unpaid leave, promotion, and the
implementation of the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD).
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED IN LIMPOPO PROVINCIAL
DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 2012/13 TO THE 2017/18 FINANCIAL
YEARS ( 2012/13- 2013/14 example continue)
28
BACK LOG _ Limpopo provincial departments(2011/12-2014/15)
DEPARTMENT NUMBER OF PENDING CASES
DATE RECEIVED
AGRICULTURE 57 2011/08 TO 2014
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1 2014/09
PUBLIC WORKS 71 2011/09 TO 2014/01
SAFETY, SECURITY AND LIAISON 1 2015/02
EDUCATION 39 2014/03 TO
HEALTH 89 2012/01 TO 2014/12
ROADS AND TRANSPORT 11 2014/11 TO 2014/03
COGHSTA 6 2014/10
PREMIER 7 2013/10 TO 2014/10
PROVINCIAL TREASURY 0 -SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 1 2014/09
SPORTS,ARTS AND CULTURE 20 2011/09 TO 2014
STATISTICS ON GRIEVANCES LODGED IN LIMPOPO PROVINCIAL
DEPARTMENTS FOR THE 2012/13 TO THE 2017/18 FINANCIAL YEARS
29
SOME CHALLENGES IN THE HANDLING AND
MANAGEMENT OF GRIEVANCES
• Non-adherence to timeframes
– 90 days by aggrieved to lodge or inform Department about dissatisfaction.
No provision for condonation for late referral.
– Non-adherence to the time frame for finalising grievances.
– Grievances compounded with several cases over a long period of time.
• Poor investigation reports
– Grievances are not properly investigated.
– The investigators assume the facts as presented by management without
his/her own investigation and analysis.
– There is often no reference to the relevant prescripts.
– Poor investigations lead to poor decisions.
• Non-adherence to the grievance escalation process
– Grievances are not escalated to the Executive Authority for a final decision.
– Escalation process is slow and time consuming especially for shift workers.
– Executive Authorities do not always escalate grievances to the PSC
timeously.
30
SOME CHALLENGES/ISSUES IN THE HANDLING AND
MANAGEMENT OF GRIEVANCES
• Absence of source documents
– Aggrieved employees do not always have relevant source
documents attached to their grievances.
– When departments forward grievances to the PSC, source
documents are not always attached, or when it is requested by the
PSC it is not available.
• Victimisation of aggrieved employees
– Aggrieved victimised or prejudiced directly or indirectly after lodging
the grievance with the Department.
• Abuse of the grievance procedure by employees
– Aggrieved employees in some instances abuse the grievance
process for ulterior motives.
31
SOME CHALLENGES/ISSUES IN THE HANDLING AND
MANAGEMENT OF GRIEVANCES (cont..)
• Non-compliance by role players
– Supervisors and other stakeholders do not attend grievance
meeting/hearing, but no consequence management applied.
– Supervisors reluctant to defend their actions and abdicate their
responsibility of grievance management to Labour Relations.
– Lack of feedback to aggrieved by Designated Employee.
– Lack of support by unions to assist members to declare disputes
when Departments refuse to implement recommendations, instead
following-up endlessly at the disadvantage of the aggrieved.
– Forum shopping by aggrieved employees.
32
PROPOSALS FOR CONSIDERATION TO ENHANCE
THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS
• Employees must start of formal process as soon as unfair conduct is
detected.
• Heads of Department must affirm the impartiality of grievance investigators.
• Where time frames are not complied with, the designated employee must
extend the time frame in writing (Mutual Agreement).
• Aggrieved employees and their representatives should not allow a
grievance to remain dormant beyond the time frame for referring a dispute
to the relevant bargaining council. (Section 35 (4) of the PSA).
• Departments must provide a firm and final answer to an aggrieved
employee even in the event of a decision which is not in favour of the
employee.
• When a decision has been taken in favour of an aggrieved, the decision
must be implemented promptly.
• Unions must advise their members of the correct avenues to follow when
challenging the conduct of the Employer.
• Proper processes must be followed to enforce arbitration awards (S143 of
the LRA).
33
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC
In order to promote sound labour relations in the Public Service the
PSC has produced the following reports:
A Report on the Investigation into the Non-implementation of Arbitration
Awards and Labour Court Orders: June 2017
The investigation was informed by the following:
Receipt of enquiries and complaints from employees regarding the non-
implementation of arbitration awards and Labour Court orders by
government Departments.
The PSC is of the view that the non-implementation of arbitration awards and
Labour Court orders has serious implications in labour relations at the
workplace. It further undermines the Rule of Law and frustrates the
effectiveness of the courts and dispute resolution mechanisms legislated by
Parliament, and impugns the authority, legitimacy and dignity of the judiciary.
In addition to outlining findings, the report presents recommendations for
implementation by different stakeholders, including departments, unions and
bargaining councils as each of these parties have specific responsibilities in this
area.
34
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
Findings from the investigation into the non-implementation of
arbitration and court orders include the following:
• According to the unions, departments do not provide reasons for not
implementing arbitration awards due to ignorance and a lack of
monitoring systems to keep track of the status of all awards issued
against them. However, the unions are also of the view that in other
instances, “departments deliberately do not implement awards to
frustrate the union and affected member(s)”.
• Sometimes it can also take up to three years or more for departments
to implement some awards.
• According to the unions and employees who participated in the study,
‘delayed’ and non-implementation leads to more dissatisfaction,
frustration and hostility, lack of cooperation and at times depression
and sick leave. This is not good for labour peace at the workplace.
35
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
• Non-implementation of arbitration awards and Labour Court orders also
has a negative impact on the morale and work performance of officials
involved in each award or court order, and there is a spill-over effect on
other colleagues who are often required to carry additional workloads
whilst the employer and employee remain preoccupied with the matter.
• Sometimes, delayed or non-implementation contributes towards
labour unrest and major financial implications for departments and
employees alike.
36
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
Recommendations from the investigation into the non-
implementation of arbitration and court orders include the following:
• Executive Authorities, with the support of HODs, should put in place a
policy and accompanying implementation guide/procedure to ensure
the effective management of disputes and timeous implementation of
awards and court orders.
• Heads of Department, as Accounting Officers (AOs) must ensure that
employees within their respective departments comply with the
Regulations, collective agreements and any other statutory obligations
incumbent upon it. This includes ensuring that employees are well
capacitated to deal with arbitration awards and Labour Court orders,
• Bargaining Councils should put in place a mechanism to monitor
implementation of arbitration awards as this will enable them to reflect
on the effectiveness of the system and identify strategic issues for
discussion with the employer.
37
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
• The findings suggest that unions are fulfilling their responsibilities
towards their members. However, there are a few instances where
employees’ matters seem to fall through the cracks due to a number of
factors, including lack of knowledge by employees. Unions should
therefore proactively follow-up on the implementation or non-
implementation of arbitration awards and court orders that affect their
members.
• Employees should empower themselves and seek the assistance of
unions and fellow employees on the processes to be followed to
enforce arbitration awards and Labour Court orders.
38
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
In order to promote sound labour relations in the Public Service the PSC
has produced the following additional reports;
A Report on the Roundtable Discussion on the Improper Management of
the PMDS which leads to Grievances in the Public Service : December
2014, with specific objective to:
empower departments with knowledge and skills to best deal with
performance management related grievances;
improve practical application of PMDS in departments;
to enhance departmental competencies in dealing with specific scenarios
identified by PSC through incorporating the proposed recommendations
made by the PSC into internal practices and procedures, thereby also
contributing to more efficient management of the internal grievance process;
to improve departmental performance management policies by clearly
identifying the relevant roles of each member involved in the performance
management process.
• Findings and Recommendations contained herein should assist the
Departments.
39
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
• In December 2013, a Report on the Roundtable Discussions on the State
of Human Resource, Grievance and Discipline Management in the
Public Service, was produced with specific objective of amongst others,
make Recommendations to advance the state of HRM, discipline and
grievance management in the Public Service.
• A Report on the Capacity Building Workshops Relating to the
Management of Grievances and Precautionary Suspensions held in
November 2011, was produced in January 2012.
• The objectives were to:
inform employees responsible for the handling of grievances in national and
provincial departments of the Guidelines on Good Practices in grievance
management;
to empower employees responsible for handling labour related matters,
including grievances in national and provincial departments;
to enhance the efficiency of grievance handling within national and provincial
departments.
40
REPORTS PRODUCED BY PSC (cont..)
• The PSC has also developed Guidelines on Good Practices in the
management of grievances : March 2012.
• The PSC also assessed the state of grievance handling and management in
the Public Service in order to identify good practices and establish areas where
departments need guidance which culminated into a Report on the Evaluation
to Identify Good Practices: 2011.
• The PSC also produces a Grievance Management Communique on a six
monthly basis. Up to so far, Volume 8 has been produced. It covers topics like
employee representation in grievance handling; the Protection from
Harassment Act, 2011; Unfair Treatment; Years of experience considered when
shortlisting for appointments; the Duty of Departments to Correct administrative
errors; the duty to give reasons for decisions etc.
All this reports can be accessed on PSC website www.psc.gov.za
>Documents>Reports.
41
CONCLUSION
• Delays in dealing with grievances has a negative effect on aggrieved
employees and their performance, thereby resulting in decreased productivity
which in turn has a negative impact on overall service delivery.
• Delays may further add to risk of high litigation against departments which is
costly not only for employees but also departments.
• Non-compliance with time-frames may also result in breakdown in trust
between the employer and employee and high labour turnover due to
people resigning because they are not happy. There may also be ‘go slows’
or any type of industrial action. Such incidences would create a negative
reputation for affected departments and the public service in general.
• The PSC will continue with other measures to promote sound labour relations
by reaching out to all employees and LRO through dissemination of critical
information using grievance management communiques, research reports
published on PSC website, workshops.
• The PSC has also put measures in place to engage departments on issues
affecting them, while research is also conducted to determine the root causes
of issues leading to grievances.
42
