New dispute prevention and resolution mechanism for public sector

A dispute prevention and resolution mechanism is to be introduced for the public service, according to the Public Administration Ministry.

The Ministry has issued a circular on the proposed mechanism for preventing and resolving disputes in the public service through workplace cooperation.

The Ministry said that under the existing legal provisions, a mechanism is available for a public employee to seek redress in the event of a violation of his rights, but no formal mechanism exists in the public service for resolving disputes of an individual employee or a group of employees, as well as in cases where the rights of a group of employees are affected.

The new system proposes the methods of social dialogue, conciliation, mediation, and arbitration to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions through discussions between parties, public employees, and management, the circular said.

The new mechanism is expected to be implemented in the entire public service at three levels: workplace, sectoral, and national.

Pilot projects at the workplace level are being implemented at several workplaces in the health and transport sectors with technical and expert support from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The measures include the formulation of legal provisions and institutional frameworks required for the establishment of workplace forums, setting up sectoral forums for each sector, a National State Dialogue Forum at the national level, establishing nine provincial mediation boards, and the National Arbitration Panel under the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government.

They also include the maintenance of a database on disputes in the public service with technical assistance from the Department of Census and Statistics. The International Labour Organisation’s technical and expert support is to be obtained to implement the mechanism.

Until the introduction of the necessary legal provisions and institutional frameworks, the implementation of this mechanism will be carried out according to the agreement of the parties, including the top management, employees, and representatives of trade unions.