It is hereby notified for general information that the Public Service Commission has under section 11 of the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 (Act No. 46 of 1997), read in conjunction with section 196 (4) (f) (ii) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996), made the Rules set out in Schedule 1 hereto.
Thus done and signed at Pretoria on this Twenty-fifth day of July 2003.
"days" refers to working days; "executing authority" means an authority as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Public Service Act, 1994; "grievance" means a dissatisfaction regarding an official act or omission by the employer which adversely affects an employee in the employment relationship, excluding an alleged unfair dismissal; "head of department" means the incumbent of a post mentioned in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of the Public Service Act, 1994, or the person acting in such post; "Public Service Act" means the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994); "recognised trade union" means all the trade unions admitted to the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council as well as any other trade union that enjoys the relevant organisational rights in a particular department; "resolve" means to settle a grievance to the satisfaction of the aggrieved employee; "representative" means a fellow employee, a representative or official of a recognised trade union.
to give effect to section 11 of the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 (Act No.
resolution of individual grievances at the lowest possible level in a department.
A grievance must as far as possible be resolved by an employer and as close to the point of origin as possible.
The employer must ensure that the grievance is dealt with in a fair, impartial and unbiased manner, and that the principles of natural justice are observed.
The procedure must be such that it assists and enables an employer and an employee to address a dissatisfaction.
No employee must be victimised or prejudiced, directly or indirectly as a result of lodging a grievance.
If disciplinary action is being taken against an employee, utilisation of this procedure by the employee to address any matter related to the disciplinary action shall not halt the disciplinary procedure.
A grievance must be lodged in writing and all decisions taken during the process must be in writing.
An employee may be assisted by a representative.
In determining adherence to time limits, this should be calculated by excluding the first day and including the last day.
The parties must adhere to the time limits set out in this procedure, unless they mutually agree to extend them.
A grievance must be lodged with the employer within 90 days from the date on which the employee became aware of the official act or omission which adversely affects him or her.
An employee may demand that his or her grievance be referred to the Commission within 10 days after receiving the executing authority's decision.
An employer must provide relevant information necessary for an employee to lodge or pursue a grievance, if requested.
The provision of such information is subject to any limitations imposed by law.
The employee must be provided with information about the status of the grievance and the progress made towards the planned finalisation date.
The employer must provide the employee with a copy of the grievance form after each applicable level of authority dealt with the grievance.
An employee may lodge a grievance with an employee designated to facilitate the resolution of grievances in the department.
The prescribed form at Annexure A must be used when a grievance is lodged.
The designated employee must liaise with the relevant structures of authority of the department in an attempt to resolve the grievance.
The grievance may be resolved by any person within the relevant structures of authority who has the requisite authority to do so.
The aggrieved employee will be duly informed by the designated employee about the status and progress made towards the resolution of the grievance.
If the grievance is resolved to the satisfaction of the aggrieved employee the confirmation thereof will be reduced to writing by the designated employee.
If a grievance cannot be resolved, the executing authority must inform the aggrieved employee accordingly.
The department (including the executing authority) has 30 days to deal with the grievance. The period may be extended by mutual agreement in writing.
the executing authority must in terms of section 35 (1) of the Public Service Act, 1994, forward the grievance and the relevant documentation to the Public Service Commission for a recommendation within five days of being informed by the aggrieved employee.
If the grievance constitutes an alleged unfair labour practice as defined in the Labour Relations Act, 1995, the employee may inform the executing authority in writing that he/she wishes to utilise the dispute resolution mechanisms provided for in the constitution of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council or the relevant sectoral council (whichever is applicable) and that the Public Service Commission should therefore not consider the grievance.
the Commission directly; or in the case of an alleged unfair labour practice, with the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council or the relevant sectoral council (whichever is applicable) in terms of its dispute resolution procedure.
Once the Commission has received all the information from the executing authority, it must within 30 days consider such grievance and inform the executing authority of its recommendation and the reasons for its decision in writing.
On receipt of the Commission's recommendation, the executing authority must, within five days, inform the employee and the Commission of his or her decision in writing.
of the head of a national department, submit the grievance to the President; or of the head of a provincial department, submit the grievance to the relevant Premier.
The President or Premier has 30 days to deal with the grievance. The period may be extended by mutual agreement.
Rules F9 and 10 will, read with the changes required by the context, apply to all grievances of heads of department.
The head of department must ensure that grievance resolution is evaluated by maintaining a record of the number of grievances resolved from the beginning of each calendar year and report to the Commission on a six monthly basis.
The Commission must report on the management of grievances and the efficiency of the grievance procedure at least once a year to the National Assembly and in respect of its activities in a Province to the legislature of that Province.
When a grievance is lodged in terms of this procecure, an aggrieved employee must disclose whether he or she is utilising any other procedure.
A grievance lodged before the promulgation of the Interim Rules, namely before 1 July 1999, shall be dealt with and concluded as if the Public Service Regulations had not been repealed.
A grievance lodged before the promulgation of these grievance rules, must be dealt with and concluded in terms of the Interim Grievance Rules promulgated in Government Gazette No. 20231 of 1999.
The date of commencement of these Rules is, subject to the provisions of Rule K, 19 September 2003.