The Civil Service Commission (CSC) made a change today to resolve the issue where employees were unable to receive promotions due to taking maternity leave.
A circular released by the commission introduced several changes to the policy governing salary progression for civil service employees who have transitioned to the state's new pay framework.
Six amendments were brought to Article 3, which outlines other considerations that must be paid attention to when granting salary progression.
Mainly, the amendments alter the requirement of obtaining 85 marks in the Performance Appraisal (PA) for two consecutive years when granting salary progression, allowing employees to instead receive 85 marks in the Performance Appraisal for two years even after an interruption.
For instance, if an employee was unable to complete 90 working days in 2025 due to taking six months of maternity leave, sick leave, and other leave, the employee will receive the progression if they obtain marks above 85 from the appraisal calculated by counting 90 working days from 2024 and 2026.
In addition to maternity leave, those who go on long-term leave such as for medical treatment will also be handled under this policy.
While changes were brought to the policy for granting salary progression, signing had recently begun on a petition expressing concern over how the policy previously stood.
The petition, drafted last March by a person named Mariyam Shifana Hussain, stated that when evaluating civil service employees under the new pay framework, if the period worked is shorter than 90 days, marks are not counted towards granting a performance appraisal promotion, thereby violating the rights of employees who take six months of approved leave in connection with childbirth.
By the time the petition's deadline passed, more than 1,300 people had signed it.
The parliament's website shows that after the petition was sent to the parliament for study and to authorities to answer to it, those institutions provided their responses.
Another change brought to the policy is to combine the total duration of both institutions if an employee changes their workplace and 90 days are not completed at either location by the end of the year.
A CSC official stated that the changes to the salary progression policy were brought to provide relief as a year was previously lost due to maternity leave.
