The Government and Public Entities Section of the General Workers’ Union (GWU)
has lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman over the reduction of sick leave in the
public service. It also alleged that the method used could be wrong and is applied
differently depending on the position of the workers.
The GWU filed its complaint after having several correspondences and meetings
with the People and Standards Division (P& SD). However, no explanation or
clarification was given, nor was any action taken to address GWU’s claims.
In its complaint to the Ombudsman, the section referred to the sick leave system
operated by the public service. The union also pointed out that there is a lack of
equality with all public service workers in the implementation of the PSMC, that the
sick leave procedure is not methodical enough, that Legal Notice 247 of 2023 is not
respected and that it is ignored as a trade union.
The Section also alleged that some ministries over the years had a different sick
leave procedure from that set out in Article 3.2.3 of the PSMC. The system was fluid
and based on the position of the workers.
In the first and second quarters of this year, these ministries started to apply the
same procedure for some of the workers belonging to their ministries as prescribed
by the PSMC, as they themselves confirmed.
The GWU had emailed the People and Standards Department (P& SD) in the Office
of the Prime Minister (OPM) asking for clarification on several factors related to sick
leave after several members brought this situation to their attention.
Therefore, the department had to approach the Ombudsman and asked him to look
into this issue and make recommendations on how sick leave should be reduced or
whether there is room for amending the PSMC so as not to discriminate against
public service workers.
