Question NW2680 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration

Reply:

1. The following training courses have been offered on “the management of discipline and incapacity issues in the workplace” during the 2012-2015 period.

Course	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	Totals
Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures	80	111	198	-	389
Investigating and Presiding Skills	159	136	145	-	440
PILIR - Policy & Procedure on Incapacity Leave & Ill health			324	166	490
					1319

(2) The NSG has three programmes related to management of discipline and incapacity issues in the workplace. The first is the Grievance and Disciplinary Action Procedures programme. This programme is accredited by the Public Service Sector Education and Training Authority (PSETA) against 2 (two) registered unit standards which are 12139 and 11286. The number of public service employees successfully accredited for this programme is 86 from 2012-2015. The second programme is the Investigating and Presiding Skills programme. This programme is not accredited, and thus has no registration number. The third programme is on Policy on incapacity and ill-health (PILIR). This programme is also not accredited, and thus has no registration number

(3) The NSG conducts training needs analyses on middle and senior management level for national, provincial and local government entities. Education interventions and capacity requirements are determined against the senior and middle management competency frameworks developed by the DPSA as well as specialised competency requirements in areas such as finance, supply chain management and human resources – which deal with issues of managing discipline and incapacity amongst others. Learning and education programmes provided by the NSG therefore meet the needs of public servants regarding the management of discipline and incapacity issues within the public service.

However, Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) reports from the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency (DPME) as well as various reports by the Public Service Commission (PSC) suggest that departments need to increase the numbers of supervisors and managers undergoing training. Also senior managers attending specific NSG programmes are of the view that their performance has improved, but further training in areas of Human Resource Management such as discipline management is necessary. MPAT reports have indicated the following with regards to the handling of disciplinary cases by all National Departments: 41% non-compliance with legal/regulatory standards; 39% partial compliance; 5% full compliance; and 15% full compliance while “doing things smartly”.

The NSG is currently piloting mandatory training for public service Managers and Supervisors beginning with Performance Management Development System (PMDS) training in an endeavour to further meet the training needs regarding HRM including discipline and incapacity management.