Osinbajo
The Federal Executive Council has approved the introduction of 14
days of paternity leave for public servants in the new Public Service Rules.
Head
of Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, briefed State House
correspondents after the FEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Yemi-Esan
said that the annual leave would henceforth be calculated based on working days
instead of calendar days.
She
said that the Annual Performance Evaluation Review and Promotions had been
replaced with a new Performance Management System.
“We
presented a memo on the revised Public Service Rules (PSR), and we are all
aware that the PSR is an old important tool in the public service; it is what
governs the actions of public servants at work.
“The
last time these rules were revised was in 2008; and so, we recognise that the
revision was long overdue.
“And
so, we put everything that we got to ensure that we did the vision; these rules
ideally, are supposed to be revised every five years.
“But
this has taken more than that for us to get the revised PSR 2021.’’
She
said that in doing the revision, there were a lot of stakeholder engagements.
Yemi-Esan
said that a circular was put out for inputs from different sectors and from
various groups that wanted amendments to the PSR.
“We
set up different committees to look at what we got; and finally, a technical
committee that consisted of permanent secretaries serving and retired and
directors were put together to look at the zero draft that we got.
“After
they reviewed it, we took it to the National Council on Establishment.’’
She
said that, at the National Council on Establishment, the essence of the PSR was
approved.
The
head of service said that there were some revisions that were supposed to be
made before making the new PSR public.
“Those
revisions have been done; and so, we brought it to FEC this morning for
approval and we got approval for it.
“Some
of the revisions that we made–the first thing was that the 2008 version had 16
chapters; meanwhile, the 2021 version now has 17 chapters in it.
“The
chapter on APER and Promotions has been replaced by a new chapter on the New
Performance Management System that has been introduced into the public service.
“There’s
also a chapter that has also been reinvigorated–the chapter on training–this is
an all-important chapter because of the importance that training has in the
public service.’’
She
said the revised PSR also had a new chapter on virtual meetings.
According
to her, some of the guidelines in the policy document earlier approved by FEC
were put into the new PSR.
“And
so, we have accepted virtual meetings as a tool to be used in service now and
there are some guidelines there.
“We
also got approval to include paternity leave; this is something that is new,
and this is something that the unions in the service asked that we include and
luckily, we have been able to include it.
“We’ve
also been able to ensure that leave now is calculated based on working days not
on calendar days–that also has been approved.
“We
also have introduced the transition from paper service to a digital service.
“So,
these are some of the new things that are in the new PSR that has just been
approved by FEC,’’ she said.
Yemi-Esan
said that there would be a transition period from APER to the new system as
work had started with some pilot ministries.
(NAN)
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