Question NW3280 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
05 January 2024 - NW3280
Mkhonto, Ms C N to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
Whether her department has a welfare unit in place that offers financial support to public servants who are about to leave the work system onto pensions; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) Strategic Framework for the Public Service calls for all departments to provide pre-retirement support which includes advising employees to access financial planning advise from authorised advisors. This is a decentralised function that is not centrally located within the DPSA.
Pre-retirement financial counselling services is therefore one of the key aspects of the EHW Framework and is implemented in partnership with the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) as mandated by the Public Service Act monitors the implementation of the EHW programme in the Public Service; conduct audits on an annual basis to ensure the implementation of the EHW programme, including pre-retirement programme.
Pillar 4 (Wellness Management) of the EHW Strategic Framework calls for all departments in the Public Service to implement the following four sub-objectives of the pillar:
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- Individual Wellness (Physical Wellness)
- Psycho-Social wellness (Social, Emotional, Spiritual, Intellectual and Financial/ Economical Wellness)
- Organizational Wellness (Creating and maintaining a positive and safe working environment)
- Work Life Balance (promoting a balance to ensure that work does not negatively interfere with the private lives of employees including family, leisure, and health and vice versa).
End