The Public Service is in turmoil with the evaluations of public employees, as this year they were graded using the new system, which is part of the Public Sector reform.
Following protests about low ratings from evaluators, the Insider also received complaints from employees about violations of the law regarding evaluation timelines and submission of objections by those affected.
According to employees’ claims, based on regulations, the annual performance evaluation reports should have been given to employees by February 15th, however, in some government departments, evaluations were not provided on time, affecting the process of submitting objections by employees.
There are also allegations that some employees were indeed given evaluations but with delays and were asked to declare that they received them on an earlier date. This has triggered strong reactions and protests from many employees, who have also filed complaints with labor unions.
According to the schedule for the new performance evaluation process of public employees, annual performance evaluation reports should have been completed by February 15th and communicated to employees.
From the day of receiving the report, employees have ten days to submit objections to the evaluation they received.
By March, the objections must be examined by the Objections Committee, and by the end of the same month, the final annual performance reports should be sent to the Public Service Commission.
If an objection is accepted, the evaluation team proceeds to draft a new performance report (final report) to be sent to the Public Service Commission.
If the objection is rejected, the performance report is sent to the Public Service Commission, and the employee is informed accordingly. Due to the numerous complaints from government employees, the Insider asked the General Director of the Ministry of Finance, George Pantelis, whether there are any plans to make changes to the new evaluation system. Mr. Pantelis’ response was negative.
