The Bhutanese Leading the way.
A couple of months ago the RCSC Commission meeting approved that contract periods of ESP and GSP staff will be extended from three to five years.
This move basically meant that the Commission was not agreeing to the government’s requests to regularize contract staff as full time regular employees.
It all started in the 2023-24 General Election cycle when the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) manifesto had a ‘Job Protection Plan for Contract Employees’ pledge for contract employees such as teachers, health workers, ESPs, GSPs, wardens and matrons, drivers, ward boys and ward girls, ECCD and NFE instructors etc.
PDP said it will change the nature of employment from contract to para-regular positions by enacting legislation that provides same service conditions and benefits to the contract employees.
Secondly it said all contract employees who are regularized as pararegular employees will have the benefits same as other civil servants like home ownership, salary raise, allowances, professional development, Provident Fund and gratuity benefits and transfer allowances.
On its first day in office, the government issued an Executive Order on establishment of a committee to study regularization of contract employees. The study or report was to be submitted to the Government within a period of one month.
A joint sub-committee was set up that included RCSC officials too led by the Health Minister Lyonpo Tandin Wangchuk.
The sub committee presented its report to the Cabinet, which endorsed it but since the RCSC is the main authority on personnel, it was sent to the RCSC. The RCSC citing concerns over meritocracy in turn recommended that the staff on consolidated and regular contract be placed under the Para-Regular category with same benefits including PF, but without the 30% contract allowance.
While this was close to what PDP had promised, the main issue of full time regularization was not resolved.
The Prime Minister at the end of May 2024 in the monthly meet-the-press shared the Para-Regular proposal of the RCSC.
In the 7th meet-the-press the PM said the 3-year contract term is too short and RCSC had replied saying it can be made 5 years and it can be renewed for five years after. The PM also asked of certain positions such as drivers or any other position, be considered for regularization if they are deemed necessary for long-term service.
The paper asked the PM on what was the latest status and he said, “We wanted them (RCSC) to regularize their service, not extend their contract. I have asked them to reconsider.”
However, given the above move the RCSC at this point is unlikely to adhere to the government request.
The government too, hopeful of changing the views of the RCSC, has not accepted the Para-Regular proposal of the RCSC.
It is a stalemate of sorts.
In the meantime, a civil servant, on the condition of anonymity, said that the confusion had arisen during the election pledges as actually a lot of what PDP promised was already implemented with the 2023 BCSR rules and earlier pay hikes.
“As part of the civil service reforms it was decided that regular civil servants and those on contract should get similar benefits and so the BCSR was changed in several places in 2023 to reflect this which political parties were not aware about,” said the official.
Giving an example the official said that ESP and GSP employees already get PF from before.
The official said that even when it comes to pay hikes all the past hikes had included contract staff too. For example contract employees got the revised pay scale of 2023 which includes the lump sum pay revision, prorated leave encashment, Leave Travel Concession (LTC), a one-off 5% indexation, and a one-off fixed payment, all effective from 1st July 2023.
The official said that after the 2023 changes to BCSR contract employees now get several benefits previously exclusive to regular civil servants.
Contract employees are entitled to the same allowances as regular civil servants, including the 30% contract allowance for regular contract staff (teachers ).
Contract employees can participate in short-term training programs both domestically and abroad under the Bhutan Civil Service Rules (BCSR) 2023.
They are also eligible to undertake the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) if selected through the Bhutan Civil Service Examination (BCSE), and their contract period of work is recognized as active service for retirement benefit calculations.
Retirement benefits for contract employees selected through BCSE are calculated from the date of appointment.
Under BCSR 2023, contract employees are now eligible for transfers within and outside their locality after five years of service, although they are not entitled to transfer grants.
All ESP/GSP contract period has been extended to 5 years from 3 years.
Under BCSR 2023 a career ladder has been introduced for standalone positions such as ECCD facilitators, matrons, wardens, childcare providers, peer counselors, and chefs, benefiting around 1,015 contract civil servants. These employees are now eligible for promotions based on performance.
Substitute teachers’ entry grades have been elevated from P5C (S2A) to P5B, equivalent to S1A.
Career advancement for the Supervisory and Support Category (SSC) has been enhanced, allowing progression to the highest level (SSS), equivalent to P1, where previously the limit was SS1 (P2).
The examination quota for civil service aspirants has been removed giving graduates unlimited opportunities to join the civil service based on merit.
Seniority protection is now granted to contract employees who transition to regular civil service positions after passing the BCSE.
After the BCSR 2023 changes teachers are now entitled to full paid vacation regardless of service duration.
The age eligibility for contract employees to sit for the BCSE has been increased from 35 to 45 years.
Leave entitlements for contract employees are now aligned with those of regular civil servants, including bereavement leave, medical escort leave, and an increase in medical leave to two months per contract term.
Promotion considerations are available every five years for contract employees based on performance, with no probationary period required.
The year-round recruitment process for SSC and OC positions has replaced the single-window recruitment system, providing greater flexibility.
Contract employees selected for regular positions may have their notice period waived with prior approval from their Human Resource Committee (HRC).
The official said that banks said that contract employees are eligible to get loans against their salary and employment but not against the PF which is not there. Here the official said that the 30% contract allowance given to regular contract staff is actually more than any 14% PF contribution from the government.
The official also said that while civil servants have to work 10 years to get gratuity contract employees get it for even one year.
The official said that contract employees are not aware of the various benefits they have been made eligible for under the BCSR 2023 changes and that in part is making them ask for regularization.
The official said that RCSC’s main concern is on the impact of regularization on the morale of regular civil servants who came through BCSE and also on meritocracy.
Another issue, though not brought out by the official, is the huge long-term budgetary impact of a bigger civil service, which already consumes the bulk of government revenue.
Despite the government’s requests it looks like the RCSC will not budge for now over regularization and so the best case scenario is a Para-Regular compromise.
As of February there are 598 regular contract staff who are mainly teachers and get the 30% contract allowance. This group may lose out in the RCSC proposal to do away with 30% contract allowance and give PF.
There are then 4,363 consolidated contract staff who are there for a shorter term and do not get the 30% contract allowance. This group may win out in the RCSC proposal to give PF to them, as they do not get the contract allowance.
Apart from the above staff who are the ones normally referred to when talking about contract staff is the ESP/GSP staff who are 6,478 in number and always got PF. The RCSC had budged here as it extended the contract term for them from 3 to 5 years.
When PDP said Para-Regular regularized employees it was referring to those like RAPA or some DNP workers who are Para-Regular but regularized which the RCSC is not willing to accept for the contract staff.
