By Chijioke Okoronkwo
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the introduction of a 14-day paternity leave for civil servants in the new Civil Service Regulations (RPP).
Folashade Yemi-Esan, Head of the Federation Service (HoSF), briefed State House correspondents after the FEC meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Yemi-Esan said annual leave will now be calculated on the basis of working days instead of calendar days.
She said the annual performance appraisal review (APER) and promotions had been replaced by a new performance management system.
“We presented a note on the revised Civil Service Rules (RPS); and we are all aware that ESP is an important old tool in the public service; this is what governs the actions of public servants at work.
“The last time these rules were revised was in 2008; and thus, we recognize that the revision was long overdue.
“And so, we put everything we got to make sure we achieved the vision; these rules, ideally, are supposed to be reviewed every five years.
“But it took us more than that to get the revised 2021 PSR. “
She said that in doing the review there was a lot of stakeholder engagement.
Yemi-Esan said a circular had been issued for contributions from different sectors and groups who wanted amendments to the PSR.
“We set up different committees to look at what we got; and finally, a technical committee made up of current and retired permanent secretaries and directors was set up to examine the zero project that we obtained.
“After reviewing it, we presented it to the National Settlement Council. “
She said that at the National Settlement Council, the essence of PSR was approved.
The department head said there were revisions that needed to be made before releasing the new PSR to the public.
“These revisions have been made; and so, we brought it to the FEC this morning for approval and got approval for it.
“Some of the revisions we made – the first thing was that the 2008 version had 16 chapters; Meanwhile, the 2021 version now has 17 chapters.
“The chapter on APER and promotions has been replaced by a new chapter on the new performance management system that has been introduced in the civil service.
“There is also a chapter that has also been reinvigorated – the chapter on training – it is a very important chapter because of the importance that training has in the public service. “
She said the revised ESP also included a new chapter on virtual meetings.
According to her, some of the guidelines from the policy document previously approved by the FEC have been incorporated into the new ESP.
“And so, we have accepted virtual meetings as a tool to use in service now and there are some guidelines there.
“We also got approval to include paternity leave; it’s something new, and it’s something that the service unions asked us to include and luckily we were able to include it.
“We were also able to ensure that leave is now calculated based on working days and not calendar days, which was also approved.
“We have also initiated the transition from a paper service to a digital service.
“So these are some of the new things that are in the new PSR which has just been approved by the FEC,” she said.
Yemi-Esan said there will be a transition period from the REPA to the new system as work has started with some pilot ministries.
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