Question NW540 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
11 March 2019 - NW540
Groenewald, Dr PJ to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)Whether she, since her reply to question 2193 on 17 September 2018, is now able to indicate which criteria will be followed by her department to determine which civil servants can be offered early retirement packages; (2) what number of (a) black, (b) white, (c) coloured and (d) Indian civil servants meet the specified criteria; (3) with reference to the number of years of service in the Public Service, which is the (a) shortest, (b) average and (c) longest period of service required from civil servants in order to qualify for the specified retirement packages; (4) whether she will make a statement on the matter?
Reply:
1. In terms of Section 16 (6) of the Public Service Act, 1994, approval of early retirement is a function delegated to each Executive Authority. This means each Executive Authority uses his or her discretion to approve early retirement, taking into account the motivation furnished by the employee when applying for early retirement.
DPSA has however provided criteria to be considered by Executive Authority when approving early retirement which are as follows:
i) the applicant is aged 55 to 60 years
ii) here shall be no negative impact on the delivery of services by the department
iii) there shall be no skills deficit created within the department
iv) the Human Resources Planning needs were considered
v) potential future fiscal savings will be realised in terms of NT’s conditions, and
vi) consideration is given to functions that are not aligned to a department’s mandate, structure and post provisioning norms.
We still need to engage Labour before issuing the early retirement circular and guideline.
2. This information will only be available once the Executive Authority of each department approved the application they received from the employees in their departments.
3. When an employee retires, his or her pension benefits are determined by the number of years of pensionable service. An employee with less than ten years of service, only receives a once-off lump sum (gratuity), whereas an employee with more than ten years of service, receives both a gratuity and monthly pension (annuity). An employee with less that fifteen years actual service, does not qualify for continued post-retirement medical assistance.
4. Not at this stage.