Leave bonanza over
The prime minister's office has finally put its foot down in an effort to curb the mass accumulation of leave days by the country's 100 000-plus civil servants.
The days of massive leave accumulation and payouts for the country's 100 000-plus civil servants, who are set to drain government coffers to the tune of N$28.66 billion for wages and other benefits during the 2018/19 financial year, are finally over.
This follows a commitment by finance minister Calle Schlettwein during his budget speech last month that measures would be instituted to bring down the wage bill from 16% of gross domestic product (GDP) to about 12% of GDP over the next five years, through a combination of natural attrition and below-inflation wage adjustments. In the latest development aimed at slashing the costs attached to having one civil servant for every 15 Namibians, the Office of the Prime Minister has announced that civil servants will now have to take their 25 annual leave days within their 12-month leave cycle or risk forfeiture.
The deputy permanent secretary in the prime minister's office, Tuyakula Haipinge, informed public servants in a circular that they are now required to take annual leave following recommendations to change aspects of the Public Service Act of 1995.
Haipinge said civil servants would have a six-month window in which to take leave after their 12-month cycle lapsed, but warned that any accrued leave not taken would be forfeited after that. “In terms of section 23(2) of the Labour Act, annual vacation leave is compulsory and must be taken within the 12-month leave cycle of a staff member. If circumstances prevent the staff member to take leave during the leave cycle, it has to be taken in the next six months,” Haipinge said.
“Any leave not taken thereafter will lapse.”
Haipinge also said that civil servants guilty of not taking leave were acting in a spirit contrary to what was contained in the Public Service Act.
“It has been recorded that staff members are not taking annual vacation leave as required and are therefore accruing vacation leave days uncontrolled. This is contrary to the letter and spirit of the legislative provisions in the Labour Act and the provisions of the said Public Service Act,” Haipinge said.
“The uncontrolled accumulation of leave is the result of a lack of proper management of vacation leave. That means that all vacation leave accrued to a staff member up to 31 March 2018 must be paid out at his or her discharge.”
Permanent secretaries in other offices, ministries and agencies would also be compelled to ensure that civil servants in various government offices understood the new measures.
“The content of this circular must be brought to the attention of each staff member currently in service. The permanent secretary has to ensure that each staff member is informed on an annual basis in writing of his or her responsibility to take vacation leave during his or her leave cycle, through the actions of the human resource office,” said Haipinge.
Permanent secretaries should also ensure that their offices, ministries and agencies start to conduct audits to ensure that the new measures are adhered to.
“The permanent secretary must ensure that an annual internal leave audit is conducted for the financial year ending on 31 March of each year and (that it is) forwarded to the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister,” Haipinge said.
Office of the Prime Minister spokesperson Saima Shaanika said the new measures were in line with administrative directives issued on 8 February 2018 by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
According to Shaanika, mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the new measures aimed to controlling personnel-related costs, and thus contain the wage bill in the public sector, would be adhered to.
Currently, Namibia's public sector wage bill amounts to 50% of revenue and is one of the highest in the world. Budget allocation for this financial year indicated that the government would spend N$28.9 billion on personnel expenditure.
The bulk of the government's money is allocated to personnel expenditures with a reported N$28 billion spent last year - out of the N$62.5 billion national budget - on approximately 119 000 civil servants' salaries and benefits. Personnel expenditure showed a 15% increase over the N$24.4 billion of the 2016 financial year.
Bank of Namibia governor Iipumbu Shiimi became the latest public official to voice his concern over the government wage bill, which he said was one of the highest in the world.
Shiimi told reporters earlier this year that Namibia's public wage bill had been accelerating at a faster pace over the past five years than those of its peers in the region.
He said at 16.3% of GDP, Namibia's public wage bill was higher than the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) average of 9% to 10% and that of many other countries in the world.
“The right level of the public wage bill is not where we are now and it needs to slow down, which is something that we will continue to say.
“We need to reduce the wage bill, but without hurting employees. I believe the policymakers have taken note of that, hence action that we see being taken at various levels. I believe we are all on the same page,” he said.
This follows a commitment by finance minister Calle Schlettwein during his budget speech last month that measures would be instituted to bring down the wage bill from 16% of gross domestic product (GDP) to about 12% of GDP over the next five years, through a combination of natural attrition and below-inflation wage adjustments. In the latest development aimed at slashing the costs attached to having one civil servant for every 15 Namibians, the Office of the Prime Minister has announced that civil servants will now have to take their 25 annual leave days within their 12-month leave cycle or risk forfeiture.
The deputy permanent secretary in the prime minister's office, Tuyakula Haipinge, informed public servants in a circular that they are now required to take annual leave following recommendations to change aspects of the Public Service Act of 1995.
Haipinge said civil servants would have a six-month window in which to take leave after their 12-month cycle lapsed, but warned that any accrued leave not taken would be forfeited after that. “In terms of section 23(2) of the Labour Act, annual vacation leave is compulsory and must be taken within the 12-month leave cycle of a staff member. If circumstances prevent the staff member to take leave during the leave cycle, it has to be taken in the next six months,” Haipinge said.
“Any leave not taken thereafter will lapse.”
Haipinge also said that civil servants guilty of not taking leave were acting in a spirit contrary to what was contained in the Public Service Act.
“It has been recorded that staff members are not taking annual vacation leave as required and are therefore accruing vacation leave days uncontrolled. This is contrary to the letter and spirit of the legislative provisions in the Labour Act and the provisions of the said Public Service Act,” Haipinge said.
“The uncontrolled accumulation of leave is the result of a lack of proper management of vacation leave. That means that all vacation leave accrued to a staff member up to 31 March 2018 must be paid out at his or her discharge.”
Permanent secretaries in other offices, ministries and agencies would also be compelled to ensure that civil servants in various government offices understood the new measures.
“The content of this circular must be brought to the attention of each staff member currently in service. The permanent secretary has to ensure that each staff member is informed on an annual basis in writing of his or her responsibility to take vacation leave during his or her leave cycle, through the actions of the human resource office,” said Haipinge.
Permanent secretaries should also ensure that their offices, ministries and agencies start to conduct audits to ensure that the new measures are adhered to.
“The permanent secretary must ensure that an annual internal leave audit is conducted for the financial year ending on 31 March of each year and (that it is) forwarded to the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister,” Haipinge said.
Office of the Prime Minister spokesperson Saima Shaanika said the new measures were in line with administrative directives issued on 8 February 2018 by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila.
According to Shaanika, mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the new measures aimed to controlling personnel-related costs, and thus contain the wage bill in the public sector, would be adhered to.
Currently, Namibia's public sector wage bill amounts to 50% of revenue and is one of the highest in the world. Budget allocation for this financial year indicated that the government would spend N$28.9 billion on personnel expenditure.
The bulk of the government's money is allocated to personnel expenditures with a reported N$28 billion spent last year - out of the N$62.5 billion national budget - on approximately 119 000 civil servants' salaries and benefits. Personnel expenditure showed a 15% increase over the N$24.4 billion of the 2016 financial year.
Bank of Namibia governor Iipumbu Shiimi became the latest public official to voice his concern over the government wage bill, which he said was one of the highest in the world.
Shiimi told reporters earlier this year that Namibia's public wage bill had been accelerating at a faster pace over the past five years than those of its peers in the region.
He said at 16.3% of GDP, Namibia's public wage bill was higher than the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) average of 9% to 10% and that of many other countries in the world.
“The right level of the public wage bill is not where we are now and it needs to slow down, which is something that we will continue to say.
“We need to reduce the wage bill, but without hurting employees. I believe the policymakers have taken note of that, hence action that we see being taken at various levels. I believe we are all on the same page,” he said.
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