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Local Councils Act (Cap. 363) Local Councils (Human Resources) (Amendment) Regulations, 2007 (L.N.95 Of 2007 )

LOCAL COUNCILS ACT (CAP. 363)Local Councils (Human Resources) (Amendment) Regulations, 2007

IN exercise of the powers conferred by articles 53(2) and 72 of the Local Councils Act, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Home Affairs with the concurrence of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, has made the following regulations:-

" "collective agreement" means the collective agreement for clerical employees employed at the Local Councils signed from time to time between the Local Councils Association and the trade union representing the majority of clerical employees employed by Local Councils;
"days and hours of work", for the purposes of an industrial action, refer to those days and hours as observed by the respective Local Councils administration, and for this purpose, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays shall not be deemed to be working days;".

(a) in paragraph (d) thereof, immediately after the words ''special leave for pregnancy'' there shall be added the words ''and another week without pay'';
(b) in paragraph (g) thereof, immediately after the words ''an Executive Secretary'' there shall be inserted the words
''or clerical employee''; and
(c) for paragraph (h) thereof there shall be substituted the following new paragraph:
''(h) Trade Union activities - three (3) working days special leave shall be afforded each year to the

Citation. L.N. 127 of

1998.

Amendment of regulation 2 of the principal regulations.

Amendment of regulation 11 of the principal regulations.

B 1058

Amendment of regulation 14 of the principal regulations.

members of the Group Committee (provided that the number of members does not exceed seven (7) persons) representing the clerical employees of Local Councils to attend for meetings, conferences, seminars or other similar Union activities provided that prior consent is given by the Mayor of the Council concerned.''.

(a) in paragraph (a) thereof, for the words ''after
6.00p.m.'' there shall be substituted the words ''after 5.30p.m.'';
and

Addition of new regulation 14A to the principal regulations.

(b) for paragraph (c) thereof, there shall be substituted the following new paragraph:
''(c) in the month of August the clerical employees shall work an average of six hours per day. After six (6) hours work there shall be a break of fifteen minutes, (even if working on half days). The two (2) hours per day worked less during this month shall be compensated during the other months of the year.''.

''Reduced hours. 14A. (1) An employee who takes care of children under the age of five (5) years may submit a request in writing to the Executive Secretary in order to work on reduced hours. The request for this purpose shall be submitted at least two months prior to the need to make use of this concession.
The Executive Secretary shall immediately put forward such requests for the consideration of the Council together with his recommendations whether such request should be accepted or not. In any case the Council shall give its decisions in writing. Such requests shall not be for less than twenty hours a week based on a five day week period.
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(2) It shall be at the absolute discretion of the Council on the basis of its exigencies whether to approve or not such requests. When such requests are approved by the Council, the Council shall establish the extent of the period by which the employee shall benefit from this concession subject to any other condition which the Council may impose, which shall be incorporated in a written agreement between the Council and the employee. The Council’s decision shall be final.
(3) At all times the Council may withdraw this concession after giving two weeks notice in writing to the employee, provided that during the first year of the contract of employment the notice shall be of three weeks. The employee, to whom the concession to work on reduced hours has been granted, shall not on his own accord work on a full-time basis, but shall submit a written request to the Executive Secretary to work on a full-time basis. The Executive Secretary shall put the reasons before the Council, giving also his written recommendations. The request shall not be turned down without a valid reason. The decision by the Council shall be final and shall be immediately communicated to the employee by the Executive Secretary.
During the period of reduced hours, the salary to be paid and any other benefits to be granted, including any type of leave, to the employee shall be on a pro-rata basis.''.

''(1) (a) Vacant and, or new posts shall be filled by means of an internal call for applications issued by the Local Council within the Local Council concerned:
Provided that when the Council does not find anyone eligible for the vacant post, the Council shall issue a call

Amendment of regulation 16 of the principal regulations.

B 1060

Amendment of regulation 19 of the principal regulations.

Amendment of regulation 20 of the principal regulations.

for applications in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
(b) After obtaining the necessary permit from the Employment and Training Corporation, the Council shall send a notice by means of electronic mail to all Local Councils inviting applications from amongst eligible clerical workers. All applications shall be considered and all applicants shall be called for an interview to be conducted by the Council. Every application submitted by any clerical employee of any Council shall automatically be short listed during the adjudication process''.

''(5) The level between 3% and 6% shall be assessed by means of a performance appraisal carried out on the form found in the Schedule; the performance appraisal is intended to assist the Local Council in evaluating the level of performance of the clerical employee concerned.''.

(a) in subregulation (1) thereof, immediately after the words ''the written approval of the Council'' there shall be added the words '', and this up to a maximum of 48 hours'';
(b) for subregulation (2) thereof, there shall be substituted the following subregulation:
''(2) (a) Clerical employees shall be entitled to 192 hours of annual vacation leave, or such other amount as may, from time to time, be prescribed according to law. Vacation leave may be availed of as full days or half days, provided that three days may be availed of on a two hourly basis. A clerical employee shall avail himself of seventy per cent (70%) of his vacation leave by the end of September while the remaining thirty per cent (30%) shall be availed of by the end of the year.
(b) Vacation leave not availed of due to exigencies of work as determined by the Council may only be accumulated from one year to another through the written approval of the Council.
(c) All vacation leave shall be approved by the Executive Secretary after a written request by the clerical employee. As a rule, vacation leave of less than three days shall be applied for three days prior to the intended
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vacation leave days, and vacation leave of more than three days shall be applied for a week prior to the said period of vacation leave:
Provided that this rule shall not apply for urgent vacation leave requests made by the clerical employee subject to such urgency being accepted by the Executive Secretary.''; and
(c) immediately after subregulation (2) thereof, there shall be added the following new subregulation:
''(3) A clerical employee shall have the right to avail himself of sixteen (16) hours vacation leave, from the one hundred and ninety-two (192) hours vacation leave entitlement, in case of an emergency, for which documentary evidence must be provided by the clerical employee concerned.''.

Addition of new regulation 23A to the principal

''Other leave and benefits.

(2) A clerical employee shall be entitled to three (3) months parental leave without pay for every new born child.
(3) The conditions regulating the health scheme as stipulated in regulation
13A shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to clerical employees of Local Councils.''.

regulations.

''The contract of employment shall incorporate the conditions agreed upon in the collective agreement; in the absence of such conditions, the provisions of Part V of the Act shall, mutatis mutandis, apply:

Amendment of regulation 24 of the principal regulations.

B 1062

Substitution of regulation 34 of the principal regulations.

Addition of new regulation 34 to the principal regulations.

Provided that clerical workers may be employed on a contract of less than three years in order to substitute clerical workers who are on long unpaid leave.''.

''34. The Executive Secretary and the clerical employees shall be entitled to a qualification allowance of -
Lm 400 - for Ph.D.;
Lm 300 - for a Masters degree; Lm 200 - for a First Degree; and Lm 100 - for a diploma,
or such other allowance as may be awarded in accordance with the procedure applicable to the public sector (General Service Grades) and subject that this qualification shall be related to functions connected with the Council:
Provided that such allowance shall not be awarded to the Executive Secretary or any other clerical employee who has successfully attended a course for prospective Local Councils Secretaries.''.

''Training. 35. A clerical employee shall be provided with training and facilities to attend for training on matters related to such employee’s functions on the Local Council. In case of university courses a clerical employee shall be entitled to one day special study leave in order to sit for an examination on that day.''.