In 2013, the country adopted the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013. Among other things the said Constitution introduced numerous progressive labour rights for all employees inter alia the right to collective bargaining, collective job action (strike), maternity leave, fair labour standards and practices and the right to be paid a fair and reasonable wage. Civil servants who were traditionally marginalized in terms of enjoyment of these rights such as collective bargaining and collective job action were accorded such rights.
Conditions of service of members of the civil service including hours of work, salaries, allowances and leave of absence are covered under the Public Service Act [Chapter 16:04] and statutory instruments made thereunder1. Some of the subsidiary instruments providing for the conditions of work include, Public Service Regulations, SI 1 of 2000, Public Service (Public Service National Joint Negotiating Council) Regulations, SI 141/1997; and Public Service (Formation and Recognition of Associations and Organizations) Regulations, SI 45/1998.
On the 1st of August 2025 the Public Service (Amendment) Bill was gazzetted. The purpose of the amendment is to align the Public Service Act with the provisions of the Constitution albeit more than a decade after the promulgation of the said Constitution.
The purpose of this analysis is to check the extend to which the proposed amendments cover the rights provided for in the Constitution or other related legislation such as the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01], international best practice as well as international labour standards particularly from the International Labour Organization (ILO). The analysis will also propose areas to be added or removed from the proposed amendments in order to ensure full realization of
1 See s. 199(3), 203(2) of the Constitution; s. 2(3)(a) of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01].
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the rights of the civil servants provided for under the Constitution and other international standards.
B. APPROACH TO ANALYSIS
The analysis will take into consideration the proposed amendments. It will examine the extent to which the proposed amendments will address and take into consideration the changes brought by the Constitution. Each clause will be examined individually and/or collectively with others and juxtaposing same with the relevant sections of the Constitution, the existing Public Service Act, the Labour Act and related subsidiary legislation, international conventions and recommendations in an attempt to establish whether the proposed Bill is favourable to the interest of the civil servants.
C.PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The legislative intent of the proposed law appears from the Memorandum and long title of the proposed Bill. The intention of the proposed legislation is to ‘amend the Public Service Act’. The Public Service Act is the primary law that governs the functions of the Public Service Commission and the conditions of employment of members of the Public Service (persons employed by the State). This Act deals with how the civil servants are employed, how they are remunerated, how they are disciplined, how their employment conditions are determined and other employee rights.
The Bill is also set to repeal the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management Act [Chapter 25:17]. This Act is the one that established ZIPAM which was a Board that was supposed to be responsible the dissemination of information relating to, and the promotion, teaching, direction, supervision, study and co-ordination of, matters of administration and management with
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particular reference to the interests of the Public Service, local authorities and parastatals and also of the private sector. Instead, the Bill seeks to replace ZIPAM with a Public Service Academy (PSA) under a new section 26A to the Act as read with clause 34.
D. BILL INDENTIFICATION & PREAMBLE
Clause 1 of the Bill simply states how the proposed Act will be identified. It will be called the Public Service (Amendment) Act, 2025 when passed. This means it will be read together with the main Public Service Act which herein will be called the principal Act.
Clause 2 sets the preamble of the proposed Act. The Public Service Act is founded on a preamble made up of s. 73, 74 and 75 of the former constitution which was repealed by s. 2 Part 2 to Sixth Schedule (section 329 and 332) of the present Constitution. The repeal of the former Constitution rendered the preamble to the Act meaningless. The preamble is set to be replaced by s. 199, 200, 201, 202 and 203 of the present Constitution.
Section 199 of the Constitution established the Public Service being that body of persons responsible for the administration of Zimbabwe made up of persons employed by the State (civil servants). It defines who members of the public service are. (see also clause 13 of the Bill).
Section 200 of the Constitution sets rights and obligations of the members of the public service including that they must not obey orders that are manifestly illegal, that they must not act in a partisan manner, that they must not further or prejudice the interest of any political party nor violate the fundamental human rights and freedoms of any person. This will be also covered under clause 19 of the Bill which seeks to introduce a new s. 22A to the Act emphasizing that civil servants must be non-partisan and acting in a partisan manner becomes an act of misconduct.
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Section 203 of the Constitution sets out the functions of the Public Service Commission. These functions are clearly outlined in clause 8 of the Bill. Such clause seeks to repeal the current s. 8 to the Act in its entirety and replaces same with a new section 8 which is more or less a regurgitation of s. 203 constitutional provisions as regards the function of the Public Service Commission.
The Preamble stands out as a reminder that the Act is a product of the Constitution particularly s.199(3) which states;
An Act of Parliament must provide for the organisation, structure, management, regulation, discipline and, subject to section 203, the conditions of service of members of the Civil Service.
E. NEW WORDS AND TERMS IN THE BILL
There are terms which are set to be introduced into the Public Service Act. This therefore follows that clause 3 of the Bill will amend s. 2 of the Act i.e. the Interpretation section by defining the new terms. Of importance are terms such as ‘collective job action’, ‘association or union’, ‘essential service’ , registered association or organisation or union’, ‘senior staff member’.
What can be gleaned from the new terms embraced in the Bill is that there is a move towards harmonising the conditions of employment of members of the civil servants with the other employees in the private sector who are covered under the Labour Act.
The term ‘collective job action’ was not in the current Public Service Act and the way it is defined in the Bill is by reference to the Labour Act. The Labour Act defines ‘collective job action’ as;
‘an industrial action calculated to persuade or cause a party to an employment relationship to accede to a demand related to
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employment, and includes a strike, boycott, lock-out, sit-in or sit-out, or other such concerted action. Also s. 65(3) of the Constitution.
The term ‘association or union’ and ‘registered association or organisation or union’ are now expanded. In the current Act, the word ‘union’ does not exist. The proposed amendment now recognises the registration of associations and unions under the Labour Act. This seems to be a move to harmonising the registration of all trade unions under the Registrar of Trade Unions in terms of the Labour Act.
A new term has been introduced; ‘essential service’. The term relates to restriction on the right to resort to collective job action as stated in s. 65(3) of the Constitution. What is important is that the definition still takes from the provisions of s. 102 of the Labour Act. Essential service must be one to which its interruption endangers immediately the life personal safety or health of any person and must be declared as such by the Minister through a Government Gazette.
Other new terms which are introduced in the act are ‘unfair labour’ practice’(cl.23), ‘collective bargaining’ (cl.27) and ‘collective bargaining agreement’ (cl. 28) and ‘harassment in the workplace’ (cl. 24) but these have not been incorporated in the interpretative clause of the Bill.
The Bill mentions the term ‘unfair labour practice’ but does not define it. It will take an interpretation from the Labour Act or international labour standards. Of importance for the interpretation section are the terms collective bargaining and collective bargaining agreement. The Labour Act does not define collective bargaining but defined collective bargaining agreement as ‘an agreement negotiated in accordance with this Act which regulates the terms and conditions of employment of employees.
It is important for the terms ‘collective bargaining’ and ‘collective bargaining agreement’ to be defined in the Act to avoid a situation where mere consultation may be deemed to be collective bargaining as obtaining under
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the present Act2. Collective bargaining is not mere consultation but negotiation with the ultimate goal of coming up with a binding and enforceable collective bargaining agreement governing the conditions of employment of civil servants.
F. COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Clause 13 of the Bill also seeks to repeal s. 14 of the Act and substitute same with a new section which deals with composition of the Public Service being in accordance with s. 199(2) of the Constitution. There is no controversy that arises therefrom as the alignment is consistent with the supreme law of Zimbabwe.
G.ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
Clause 4 of the Bill seeks to introduce a new s. 2A to the Act. The section will establish a body corporate known as the Public Service Commission (PSC). This is in accordance with s. 202(1) as read with s. 319 of the Constitution.
The proposed amendment to the Act under clause 4 of the Bill is in compliance with the Constitutional provisions in terms of the establishment of the PSC, its composition thereof as well as the legal capacity of the Commission.
2 Art. 2 of the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154)
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H. CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF COMMISSIONERS
Clause 5 of the Bill seeks to repeal the current s. 3 of the Act and substitute it with a new s. 3. In respect of the conditions of service of Commissioners of the PSC. Under the old s. 3 commissioners held office for three (3) years but the present proposal has a five-year term with an additional term renewal. This is in accordance with s. 320(1) of the Constitution.
The terms and conditions of service of commissioners are set by the President in terms of s. 320 (6) of the Constitution which states;
Members of Commissions are entitled to such remuneration, allowances and other benefits as may be fixed by or under an Act of Parliament, and their remuneration must not be reduced during the members’ tenure of office.
The introduction of a new s. 3 to the Act will see the repeal of the entire s. 5 of the Act which dealt with the fixing of conditions of service of Commissioners which used to be done by the President under s 109 as read with Schedule 6 of the former Constitution.
Be that as it may s. 5(2) of the Act has been retained as was but now as s. 3(3). The section states that any enactment setting out conditions of service for members of the Public Service may be used in the fixing of conditions of service for Commissioners at the direction of the President.
I. RESIGNATION OF COMMISSIONERS
No material changes are being introduced other than compliance with the Constitution with regards to service of notice of resignation. Clause 6 of the Bill seeks to repeal s. 4(1) of the Act which deals with notice of resignation of commissioners. Now the notice of resignation must be twenty-one days and
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must be given directly to the President as opposed to the Minister. This is in accordance with s. 341 of the Constitution which states that notice must be given to the appointing person. The other provisions of s. 4 of the Act with regards to resignation of commissioners remain unchanged e.g. they are deemed to have resigned if they become members of Parliament or of a local authority as members or employees.
J. FUNCTIONS OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
The functions of the Public Service Commission are listed in s. 203 of the Constitution. In order to accommodate the functions introduced by the Constitution, clause 8 of the Bill seeks to repeal the entire s. 8 of the current Act and substitute same with functions listed in s. 203 the Constitution. The clause incorporates all the nine (9) functions of the Commission into the Act.
Be that as it may, in line with s. 203(1)(i) of the Constitution, four additional duties which are not expressly mentioned in the Constitution are added, some which were in the repealed provision but all related to the administration of the PSC. These are to organise, provide structures, manage and regulate the Public Service; to fix the number of offices, post and grades in the Public Service; to appoint persons from approved services or to second persons to offices, posts and grades in the Public Service; and to conduct examinations for candidates for entry to and promotion within the Public Service.
Although there arises no controversy on the functions of the Commission in respect of its administrative duties, the only duty that is problematic is one of fixing and regulating conditions of service including salaries, allowances and other benefits of members of the Public Service.
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There is an ambiguity that may arise therefrom in that the proposed s. 8(1)(d) gives reference to s, 203(b) (instead of s 203(1)(b) of the Constitution without any clarity. It states;
subject to section 203(b) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe to fix and regulate conditions of service, including salaries, allowances and other benefits, of members of the Public Service.
A reading of the said s. 203(b) (sic) of the Constitution further gives reference to s. 65(5) of the Constitution as follows;
(1) The Civil Service Commission has the following functions—
(b) subject to section 65(5), to fix and regulate conditions of service, including salaries, allowances and other benefits, of members of the Civil Service;
One further has to resort to section 65(5) of the Constitution which provides as follows;
(5) Except for members of the security services, every employee, employer, trade union, and employee or employer’s organisation has the right to—
(a) engage in collective bargaining;
(b) organize; and
(c) form and join federations of such unions and organisations.
The Act must just provide clarity on what is being reference in s. 203(b) of the Constitution which by ordinary interpretation is the right to collective bargaining. The cross-referencing creates an ambiguity as to whether the legislature seeks to fully embrace and recognise the right to collective bargaining or just to intentionally leave a vacuum.
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K. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
The most celebrated right that was brought by the Constitution is the right to collective bargaining under s. 65(5)(a) of the Constitution. In terms of s. 65, the right is accorded to every employee, trade union, and employee and employers organisations except members of the security services which are defined in s. 207 of the Constitution. These are; Defence Forces, Police Service, the Prisons and Correctional Service and Intelligence Services and any other security service established by an Act of Parliament (see Clause 3 of the Bill).
Civil servants not being members of the security must enjoy the right to collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is defined by Grogan J in Workplace Law as that process in terms of which employers and employee collectives (trade unions) seek to reconcile their conflicting goals through a process of mutual accommodation . The ILO defines the same collective bargaining in Article 2 of the Collective Bargaining Convention (C.154) as;
For the purpose of this Convention the term collective bargaining extends to all negotiations which take place between an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations, on the one hand, and one or more workers’ organisations, on the other, for—
(a)determining working conditions and terms of employment; and/or (b)regulating relations between employers and workers; and/or (c)regulating relations between employers or their organisations and a
workers’ organisation or workers’ organisations.
Further, it must be noted that the ultimate goal of collective bargaining is to reach to a collective bargaining agreement after the negotiations. This clearly appears from the definition of collective bargaining agreement in terms of section 2 of the Labour Act which reads; “collective bargaining agreement” means an agreement negotiated in accordance with this Act which regulates the terms and conditions of employment of employees.
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The Bill contains three clauses dealing with determination of conditions of service in the Public Service but none directly relates to collective bargaining as a right. Clause 8 which seeks to repeal s. 8 of the Act by introducing the constitutional functions of the Commission gives reference to s. 203(b) of the Constitution which must actually read s. 203(1)(b). Absolutely nothing turns from clause 8 which one can safely conclude that the right to collective bargaining has been provided for in the proposed amendment. It is a mere cross reference to s. 203 and nothing else.
Clause 17 seeks to amend s. 19(1) of the Act. Section 19 of the Act is the one which specifically deals with determination of conditions of service of members of the public service. The new subsection which is to be introduced completely ignores the right to collective bargaining. There is no mention of such right even by mere reference to the Constitution. It simply states that the fixing and regulating of conditions of service shall be done by the Commission, with the approval of the President on recommendation from the Minister of Finance after consultation with the Minister of Public Service. There is no reference whatsoever to the process of collective bargaining. The current position was even better as it gave reference to the Constitution, the Act and the Labour Act. The proposed amendment does not give reference to such .
Quite startling is that the Bill does not seek to amend or repeal s. 20 of the Act. That section completely takes away the right to collective bargaining and retains a mere consultation. That section is ultra vires the Constitution and must be repealed in its entirety. It reads;
20 Consultations re conditions of service of members of Public Service
(1) The Commission shall engage in regular consultations with recognized associations and organisations in regard to the conditions of service of members of the Public Service who are represented by the recognized associations or organisations concerned.
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(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), conditions of service fixed or determined under this Act shall not be invalid solely on the ground that—
(a) they were not the subject of prior consultation in terms of subsection (1); or
(b) they were not agreed to by all the parties to any prior consultation in terms of subsection (1).
The above section does not recognise the right to collective bargaining but rather consultation. It must be repealed and replaced by a section which recognise such right and the outcome thereof through a collective bargaining agreement. Once conditions of service are done unilaterally as allowed by that section, those conditions will be ultra vires s. 203(1)(b) as read with s. 65(5) of the Constitution.
Clause 27 of the Bill seeks to amend s. 31 of the principal Act and provide that the Regulations made under that section will provide for collective bargaining in the Public Service. This right must be express in the principal Act just as they did with the right to collective job action – see Clause 22 for example (in express terms) not to relegate same to regulations.
L. RIGHT TO ORGANISE
Trade unions, associations and organisations of employees were ordinarily ‘recognised’ by the Minister of Public Service in terms of s. 24 (1) and (2) of the Act. There was no direct registration process which was provided for in that Act other than reference to SI 45/1998. Further the term ‘ trade union’ never existed in that Act. Now clause 22 of the Bill seeks to bring the registration of Public Service Unions and Associations under the ambit of the Labour Act.
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The proposed repeal and substitution of the principal Act reads;
(1) The provisions of Part VII of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] shall apply mutatis mutandis to the registration of Public Service Unions or Associations.
The essence of the amendment is that the Minister no longer has the powers that he wielded under s. 24 of the Act of recognising, refusing to recognise or revoking the recognition of trade unions or associations. It therefore follows that section 32(b) of the principal Act must also be repealed.
Further the amendment marks the legislature’s intention to fully embrace trade unionism in the Public Service and treating those trade unions or associations at par with those under the Labour Act. The process, the requirements for registrations and rights and privileges will now be the same as those in the private sector. This means that SI 45 of 1998 will become moribund and must be repealed3.
M. COLLECTIVE JOB ACTION
Right to resort to collective job action
For the first time, the Bill seeks to introduce and recognise the right to resort to collective job action under clause 22 which seeks to amend s. 24 of the principal Act. The new Act will introduce the right to collective job action for the first time. Under the Act and SI 1 of 2000, this right was a misconduct.
3 See also the definition of “association or union “registered association or organization or union” in clause 3 of the Bill which give reference to the Labour Act.
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Under the paragraph 23 to the First Schedule (Section 2) of SI 1 of 2000 it was a misconduct to;
23. Engaging in collective job action, including—
(a) incitement of members to engage in such action;
(b) damaging Government property or forcibly disrupting public services in furtherance of such action;
(c) calling meetings of members at the work place or during working hours in furtherance of such action
The proposed amendment to s. 24 seeks to introduce ss (6) and ss (7) to the principal Act which embrace and recognise the right to collective job action. The conditions of embarking on such collective job action will be set in Regulations. This is problematic! Such must be set in the principal Act since this is a fundamental labour right.
Only essential service may not resort to collective job action. This is in tandem with s. 65(3)of the Constitution. The term essential service is defined in clause 3 the Bill as;
“essential service” in relation to public service means any department, section or part of the Public Service—
(a) the interruption of which endangers immediately the life, personal safety or health of any person; and
(b) that is declared by notice in the Gazette made by the Minister in consultation with the Public Service Commission;
The above definition is in sync with s. 102 of the Labour Act as read with the Labour (Declaration of Essential Service) Notice SI 137 of 2003.
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Procedure of embarking on collective job action
It was pertinent for the conditions under which the public servants may embark on collective job action to be given guidelines in the principal Act other than relegating same to service regulations. The making of an Act is subject to public scrutiny and public hearings. The regulations have no such. Reference may be given to Part XIII particularly s. 104 of the Labour Act. Although the procedures set under s. 104 of the Act are stringent and cumbersome, members of the Public Service may move for more favourable conditions than those obtaining under the Labour Act.
Appeal against declaration of essential service
Further, the Bill does not provide for the right to challenge the declaration of a department, service or section as an essential service. S. 103 of the Labour Act has a procedure of challenging the declaration of essential service where an aggrieved person may approach the Labour Court of appeal. This right must also be provided for under the Public Service Act as may be amended.
N.Maternity Leave
Clause 23 seeks to introduce a new section 24A to the Act which exclusively deals with maternity leave. Unlike all other types of leave which are provided in SI 1 of 2000, this right is placed in the principal Act. One can conclude that it is the only type of leave that is expressly provided for under s. 65(7) of the Constitution as well and that is the reason it has been prioritised in the Act.
The section essentially repeals s. 39 of SI 1 of 2000 which governed maternity leave. The key changes are that all female employees are now entitled to fully paid maternity leave of up to ninety-eight days. There is no qualifying period that one should have completed a year in service which obtained under s. 39 of SI 1 of 2000. Further there is no maximum number of maternity leave one
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may take unlike what was obtaining under SI 1 of 2000. Under s. 39, maternity leave was only granted once in a period of twenty-four months and up to only three periods of maternity leave. This qualification is also removed. This essentially embraces s. 65(7) of the Constitution which has no other form of qualification for maternity leave. With the coming in of s. 24A to the Act, s, 39 of SI 1 of 2000 must thus be repealed.
Unfair labour practice
Most importantly is that a denial or maternity leave or any of the conditions set in the new section will constitute an unfair labour practice. The proposed s. 24(7) however is ambiguous as it does not come with the remedy or sanction for that unfair labour practice and such is not provided for anywhere in the Act. The terms ‘unfair labour practice’ appears only once ion the entire Bill and it is not defined.
Pregnancy and Paternity Leave (suggested)
It can be argued that women who are pregnant suffer a lot of complications which may not necessarily be sick leave related, such can be covered by a special type of a leave which may be called pregnancy leave on full pay and benefits.
Husbands to women covered under maternity leave may also be entitled to paternity leave in order to offer support to their wives.
O.Harassment in the workplace
Clause 25A of the Bil; seeks to introduce s.25A to the Act. The section will provide for ‘Harassment at the workplace” essentially that it will constitute a misconduct as well as a criminal offence for any member of the Public Service to harass other fellow members including sexual harassment at the workplace
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or elsewhere. It may be a dismissible misconduct as may be set in the regulations.
The new section 25A(2) places obligations on all Ministries to set a ‘gender mainstreaming desk’ which will receive harassment complaints by members of the Service.
The issue of harassment has been topical and has also seen the Labour Act being amended to embrace same through Labour Amendment No. 11 of 2023 and defined same as;
“violence and harassment” in the context of section 6(3) and section 8 refers to a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment.
It is pertinent that the phrases ‘harassment at workplace’ and ‘sexual harassment’ be properly defined in the Act or the Regulations to avoid anything and everything being imputed as such.
P. APPEALS TO THE LABOUR COURT
Clause 25 of the Bill seeks repeal s. 26 of the principal Act and replace it with a new s. 26 with regards to the right to appeal to the Labour Court. In summary, the section introduces powers that the Labour Court may exercise with regards to an appeal in terms of the Act and the timelines within which to appeal. The section will also deal with the right to apply for a review to the Commission.
Subsection 1 is ambiguous and needs to be redrafted. It does not state whose decision will be reviewed and by who. The Commission may not review its own decisions.
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The suggested wording is that;
any person aggrieved by any order, recommendation, finding or decision of a Disciplinary Authority other than the Commission may appeal or request for a review of the order, recommendation, finding or decision to the Commission within fourteen (14) days of the order, recommendation, finding or decision concerned.
It is also important to note that decisions of the Commission sitting as a Disciplinary Authority or a grievance authority must be appealable or reviewable by the Labour Court.
Subsection 2 is a standalone subsection and must not give reference to subsection 1.
On subsection 4, with regards to the powers of the Labour Court on appeal, the wording of (4)(a) is improper. The wording must take from section 89(2)(a)(ii) of the Labour Act and read as follows;
confirm, vary, reverse or set aside the decision, order or action that is appealed against, or substitute its own decision or order;
The same section must accord the Labour Court power to order reinstatement or award damages in lieu of reinstatement where the appeal deals with dismissal of an employee.
The Commission presides over grievances of members. There must be a right to appeal or to seek review of decisions of the commission over grievance findings or decisions. The appeal or review must also lie with the Labour Court. As it stands there is no recourse after the Commission finalises a grievance.
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Q.SERVICE REGULATIONS
Regulations which govern conditions of employment in the Public Service are made in terms of s. 31 of the principal Act. Clause 27 of the Bill seeks to add more areas which must be covered by those regulations. At present there is SI 1 of 2000. The new areas to be covered are collective bargaining in the Public Service, disclosure of assets by members and code of conduct for members.
In terms of the currents s. 31 of the Act, the service regulations are made by the Commission with the concurrence of the Minister of Public Service. This makes these regulations a unilateral act of the employer party. These regulations are treated as a collective bargaining agreement registered in terms of s, 79 of the Labour Act4. In essence these regulations are a collective bargaining agreement, as such they must be a product of a collective bargaining process.
Section 31 of the Act must thus be amended to an extend that any service regulations to be made which govern the conditions of service must be a product of collective bargaining with associations and trade unions involved and they must come in the form of a collective bargaining agreement proper.
R. DISCRIMINATION AND GENDER PARITY
Clause 16 of the Bill brings a comprehensive non-discrimination clause which takes from s. 56 (3) of the Constitution.
In addition to amendments being made to s. 18 of the Act by clause 16 of the Bill, appointments and promotion into the service must take into account
4 S. 31(4) of the Public Service Act.
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gender parity as provided for in s. 17, 18, 24(2), 56(2) and 80 of the Constitution. The proposed amendment only captures s. 17 and 18 of the Constitution.
S. PUBLIC SERVICE ACADEMY
Clause 26 of the Bill introduces the Public Service Academy which is a replacement of ZIPAM which will provide continuous training and professional development of members of the Public Service. No further details are provided as to the operationalisation of the Academy as same will be provided in the Charter of the Academy to be proclaimed by the President in the Gazette.
T. POLITICAL INTERESTS
Section 200 of the Constitution prohibits members of the service from acting in a partisan manner, furthering interests of political parties or prejudicing lawful interests of any political party. This has been placed in the Bill as acts of misconduct. Any member who acts in a partisan manner or becomes or an office bearer of a political party commits an act of misconduct.
Be that as it may, the exercise of political rights outside exercise of functions and duties as a member of the service may not constitute such act of misconduct. In terms of s. 22A(2) of the proposed Act.
U. DECLARATION OF ASSETS
Clause 21 of the Bill seeks to amend the Act repealing section 23A which dealt with resignation of persons seeking to be members of parliament who were to resign from the public service. The section will be replaced by a new section
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which deals with the disclosure or declaration of assets by members of the Board, Commissioners and Senior Staff members of the public service in terms of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act [Chapter 10:31]. This amendment will be supported by First Schedule (Section 23A) of the Act.
Our understanding is that not all civil servants must declare assets but Board Members, Commissioners and Senior staff members of the Public Service. Senior Members of staff are defined as any member of the Public Service Commission who is appointed or approved by the President. The declaration of assets applies to immovable assets, movable assets in excess of $100 000.00 and business interests.
V. WHAT IS MISSING?
1. The right to collective bargaining
2. The procedure for exercising the right to resort to collective job action
3. The right to appeal against the declaration of essential services
4. Therighttoappeal/seekreviewagainstgrievancefindingsordecisionsby
the Commission.
5. Therighttocollectivebargaininginthemakingofserviceregulationsunder
section 31 of the Act.
6. Pregnancyandpaternityleave.
W. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
The Bill does not cover critical rights brought under s. 65(5) of the constitution particularly the right to collective bargaining. Further the exercise of the right to collective job action is not fully addressed. The manner in procedure of the making of service regulations including the code of conduct must be subject to collective bargaining.
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It is important that written representations of areas that need improvement in the Act be presented to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service labour and Social Welfare in writing. Further on the public hearings, it is important for the public servants and their associations and trade unions to participate and make submissions and representations on aspects of the Bill which needs alignment with the Constitution and international labour standards. This can be done by way of clause-by-clause analysis of the Bill and suggested wording of the relevant parts thereof.