Finance Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, brought to the House of Representatives last Tuesday, the following guidelines of September 1997, detailing the method of hiring and remunerating consultants and special advisers. The move followed the recent disclosure that the Government was forking out $95 million annually to pay 58 persons who fall into these groups. Part Two will be carried next week.
CONTRACT OFFICERS/PROJECT STAFF/CONSULTANTS TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
THIS CIRCULAR sets out the revised terms and conditions for the employment of the following categories of personnel Short-term consultants, project staff, full-time advisors/consultants, executive, special and personal assistants to Parliamenta-rians, all fixed term contract
officers.
Every effort should be made to ensure that these guidelines are followed and that all concerned are made aware of them. Where clarification is required, the Public Service Establishment Division (Compensation Unit) should be contacted for advice.
These terms and conditions supersede those outlined in MPS circular No. 23 dated August 26, 1992.
APPENDIX 1 SHORT-TERM CONSULTANTS
Definition: Consultants are persons/entities providing advice or technical expertise in an area of specialisation. In this regard the consultant is required to produce deliverables in relation to the completion of a project or assignment.
Terms and conditions of engagement:
- Consultants should be recruited on a competitive basis. Exceptionally, it
may be appropriate for recruitment to be on a basis of negotiation with a
single individual/firm;
- Consultancies should therefore be advertised, or a short list of identified
persons invited to tender proposals;
- Major consultancies should be put out to competitive tender;
- Previously agreed criteria should be used in the selection process and
should be derived from the Terms of Reference. These criteria should be weighed
in favour of appropriate experience and demonstrated competence, professional
qualification and personal qualities required for the job;
- Contracts should be negotiated on the basis of the amount of effort required
for the assignment. The effort should be expressed in terms of the number
of man-hours, man-days or man-months necessary to complete the assignment;
- The price or rate must be approved and agreed before the consultancy commences;
- Persons permanently employed to the particular ministry/department or agency
responsible for the project would not be eligible to apply for consultancies;
- Performance Requirement this should indicate the level of performance
expected of the Consultant and the conditions under which the contract may
be terminated for unsatisfactory performance. The link between pay and performance
should be established here.
- Remuneration should be on the basis of a time-based "price for the job".
This price should be based on a man-month rate including a professional fee
and overhead expenses. Details of breakdown of the man-month rate should be
precisely identified e.g. travel mileage. Payment should be made on the submission
of an invoice at agreed intervals which should include a brief description
of the activities undertaken during the billing period.
- A basic underlying principle should be that payment for services reflects
acceptable performance. "Price for the job" contracts should include a retention
clause (five to ten per cent) to ensure satisfactory completion of the consulting
assignment.
TERMS OF REFERENCE CONSULTANCIES
Formal Terms of References (TOR) must be prepared for all consultancies. These are the instructions to the consultants as to the services that should be performed to complete the assignment.
Terms of Reference should include:
- Background a statement of the context of the assignment;
- Objective the specific outcomes expected from the assignment;
- Scope of work the specific tasks and activities to be carried out
by the consultant, which are required to achieve the objectives;
- Training where appropriate a statement of the Consultant's responsibility
for the transfer of skill/technology to staff, in specific terms.
APPENDIX 2 - PROJECT STAFF TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
- Job description for posts to be established on projects should be submitted
for classification and pay determination.
- Staff for project positions may be recruited from inside or outside of
the Government service;
- Firstly recruitment should be by advertisement internally (i.e. within
the public service) and externally. Failing adequate response, recruitment
may be by individual identification and invitation to apply;
- Wherever possible selection should be competitive and on the basis of the
best qualified candidates;
- Selection should be by a selection committee comprising at least three
persons;
- Selection criteria should give priority to technical competence, performance
record and formal qualification.
Vacation 15 working days
Casual 5 working days
Sick 14 calendar days
SECONDMENT TO PROJECTS
Officers who hold established positions in the Civil Service and are seconded to Projects are not eligible for gratuity except in circumstances where they have been granted no-pay leave to accept employment on projects. However, service for the period where a gratuity is paid will not be taken into account in the calculation of Pension benefits. These officers however, will continue to retain their pension rights.
OTHER COMPENSATION AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT
- Generally salaries and allowances are to be in accordance with the classification
and pay applicable to the post;
- Project Premium ranging from 15 per cent to 25 per cent of basic salary
applicable to the classification grade may be negotiated. Please note that
the payment of project premium is optional and therefore not mandatory;
- Where exceptional emoluments are set outside of the classification grade,
such emoluments are to be revised in accordance with the term of the contract
or consultation with the Public Service Establishment Division (Compensation
Unit) Ministry of Finance and Planning;
- Gratuity may be payable to professional and managerial appointees after
two years of satisfactory contract service at a maximum rate of 25 per cent
of salary earned during the contract period;
- Contracts should make provisions for ensuring performance based work plans
and regular reporting by the appointees.
