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SERP Will Require MDAS to Practise Effective Manpower Planning

By: , February 9, 2018

The Key Point:

Deputy Financial Secretary, Wayne Jones, says implementation of the Special Early Retirement Programme (SERP) will require that government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) practise effective manpower planning in reorganising job functions.
SERP Will Require MDAS to Practise Effective Manpower Planning
Deputy Financial Secretary, Wayne Jones, emphasises a point at a Jamaica Information Service ‘Think Tank’ on February 7.

The Facts

  • “It is an opportunity for MDAs to assess their manpower needs and their work arrangements at this time, because they will be required to make appropriate adjustments that will not include a 100 per cent replacement for persons who have left the organisation,” Mr. Jones said.
  • Mr. Jones, who also heads the Strategic Human Resource Management Division of the Finance Ministry, urged the management and human resources teams at MDAs to look at SERP applications in a collective way before giving approval, in order to assess the potential impact on the overall personnel needs of the organisation.

The Full Story

Deputy Financial Secretary, Wayne Jones, says implementation of the Special Early Retirement Programme (SERP) will require that government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) practise effective manpower planning in reorganising job functions.

The SERP, being implemented through the Public Sector Transformation Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, is a voluntary separation initiative that allows public-sector employees, age 50 to 59, under the non-contributory government pension scheme, to take up early retirement through an incentivised package.

Under the programme, MDAs are required to replace no more than 15 per cent of the savings attained through persons taking up the SERP.

“It is an opportunity for MDAs to assess their manpower needs and their work arrangements at this time, because they will be required to make appropriate adjustments that will not include a 100 per cent replacement for persons who have left the organisation,” Mr. Jones said.

He was speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ on Wednesday (February 7).

Mr. Jones, who also heads the Strategic Human Resource Management Division of the Finance Ministry, urged the management and human resources teams at MDAs to look at SERP applications in a collective way before giving approval, in order to assess the potential impact on the overall personnel needs of the organisation.

He further described it as an opportunity for MDAs to look at different options to manage job functions effectively, such as making specific job functions redundant, redesigning posts or redeploying job roles across the entity.

“SERP provides an opportunity for MDAs to engage effective manpower planning. What is critical is that the operations must go on in an effective way. It is an opportunity for you to scan the totality of your organisation,” Mr. Jones said.

He added that MDAs have been equipped with all the information relating to SERP, so that the eligible persons within the age cohort can apply. The application period closes on February 16.

Successful applicants will receive an incentive of two weeks’ salary for each year of service up to a maximum of one year’s salary. Additionally, they will receive payment in lieu of vacation leave accrued up to their retirement date. Applicants are required to be vested with 10 years of service, with one year’s employment in a permanent post.

The SERP programme is facilitated by the new Pension (Public Service) Act 2017, which makes provision for a sunset clause allowing for the SERP to be governed by the provisions of the previous legislation.

Last Updated: February 9, 2018

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