Contracts and PSC

Susana Tuisawau, Wainivula Rd

My deepest gratitude to the Government and Fiji’s Public Service Commission (PSC) for removing contracts from civil servants.

I have heard and read many good reasons why contracts should be removed. However, may I add other fundamental and critical issues that rationalise the need for civil servants to be on a more permanent tenure until they retire as these are ones also recognised worldwide.

Firstly, the principle of maintaining and using institutional knowledge. This is for a consistent, efficient and effective operation of a civil service. As civil servants are serving the public with taxpayers’ money, they are supposed to be well versed, at all times, and at all levels, of what the standard procedures and policies of serving the public are.

With civil servants of different and short contracts, expiring at different times, there is an ever-present likelihood or danger of new contract holders not being familiar with everything while serving the public, and not delivering or making grievous mistakes.

The longer a worker is on the job the greater the experience and institutional knowledge. Further, the civil servant is annually monitored by the performance appraisal exercises.

Secondly, is for security reasons. A more long-standing cadre of public servants have a greater chance to be absorbed into the civil service culture to cultivate respect for the values, principles and obligations that come with the civil service. Hence, they are more likely to respect the principles and policies of being apolitical; objective and to honour the obligation or oath to keep confidentiality of information that comes with the Ministries they serve.

Security of tenure also makes for a stressfree worker who knows the safety of working within the legislations, policies and procedures. The worker is not anxious about having to carry out orders outside the policies just to “Please the Boss”, for the sake of having his/her contract renewed.

May I just add that after the 1987 and 2000 coups, what I believed saved Fiji was the fact that the PSC remained intact. It was not interfered with. This was the system left by the British. Its standing policies and procedures continued to be honoured and thus gave continuity or a form of steady governance.

For example, despite the political upheavals, the teachers of Fiji continued to work seamlessly under the agreed conditions of work in the Collective Agreements that were signed with government (PSC/MOE) at the time. (FIT Collective Agreement & Government General Orders).