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AMENDMENT OF THE OSD FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS PHSDSBC - CENTURION 28 MARCH 2019

AMENDMENT OF THE OSD FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS PHSDSBC - CENTURION 28 MARCH 2019. PURPOSE. To outline proposed amendments to OSD for social service professions and occupations, and rationale thereof

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AMENDMENT OF THE OSD FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS PHSDSBC - CENTURION 28 MARCH 2019

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  1. AMENDMENT OF THE OSD FOR SOCIAL SERVICE PROFESSIONALS PHSDSBC - CENTURION 28 MARCH 2019

  2. PURPOSE • To outline proposed amendments to OSD for social service professions and occupations, and rationale thereof • To outline the implications of the proposed amendments (Financially and Institutionally)

  3. BACKGROUND & RATIONALE • OSD for social service professionals was introduced in 2009. • It is a transversal matter which involves various departments such as DSD, DOH,DCS, DOJ, SAPS,DBE, DEFENCE – these departments are within or across all sectors • Since the inception of the OSD for social service professionals, a number of fundamental developments and legislative shifts have since occurred: • Professionalization for various categories • Improvement and introduction of qualifications in certain categories • Discrepancies between occupations (principle of equal pay for work of equal value not being practiced) • A need therefore arose to look at the possible amendment of the OSD for social service professionals and the implications thereof. • Subsequent to that the department has on several occasions engage the MPSA on the challenges experienced during the implementation of OSD • These matters were further aggravated by certain organized labour union/s who embarked on mass strike action between February and April 2017 • OSD was suppose to be reviewed every 3 years which never happened

  4. RATIONALE • The objectives that the OSD for social service professionals managed to fulfill and those that it struggled to accomplish can be summarized in the table below:

  5. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS In light of the failures outlined, the following amendments have been proposed:

  6. The current experience required to become a social work supervisor and social work manager is seven (7) and ten (10) years respectively. • This has proven to be a challenge at the moment given the shortages identified in both social work supervisor and manager positions. • This requirement compromises the ability to employ sufficient Supervisors and Managers. • In light of these challenges, a supervision framework was developed in 2012. • The supervision framework outlines that there is a need for effective supervision in the social work profession as well as improvement of the quality of social work services. • The framework is informed by a lack of adequate training and structural support as well as unmanageable workloads. • The framework also links to the professional status of social work and the significance of supervision in the social welfare sector. • The Social Work Supervision framework was widely consulted and supported • In line with the framework, it is proposed that the requirements for Social work supervisors and Managers be reduced to five (5) and seven (7) years respectively. • This will result in the pool of supervisors and managers increasing substantially because of the reduction in years. • The number of potential qualified supervisors and managers will increase . • A consideration will have to be made in the long term for the creation of additional Supervisor and Manager posts to directly address the shortage. Amendment 1:Reduction of required Experience for the appointment of Social work Supervisors and Social Work Managers.

  7. The OSD for social service professionals, currently makes provision for an appropriate three (3) year qualification for community development practitioners. • This qualification is not very specific • This is mainly because at the time when the OSD was introduced, the CDP environment was fairly new and yet to be professionalised. • At the moment the CDP occupation is the process of being professionalised (2021/2022) • Engaging with the SSPC with regard to the processes which need to be followed (scope of practice) • To develop a database for CDP’s within the country (across various sectors) to register on the database (2019/20) • A qualification framework is been finalised and implemented. • The new qualification is a four (4) year degree, with Community Development as a major subject. • The fist batch of graduates is expected at the end of 2020. Amendment 2:Review of Qualification for Community Development Practitioners.

  8. The qualification is however yet to be institutionalised nationally, below is the picture for various institutions: Amendment 2: …..contReview of Qualification for Community Development Practitioners.

  9. Currently a 3% pay progression is received every two (2) years. • Current status has an impact on the notch of employees who are on the verge of exiting. • During the inception of the OSD, this was deemed as an incentive. • Recent developments in other/most occupational categories currently receive a 1,5% pay progression annually. • It is proposed that the pay progression for social service professional be amended from 3% every two (2) years, to 1,5% annually in line with other occupational categories. • Theoretically, this proposed amendment should not have any implications as the 3% is merely being divided into two (years) which results in the proposed 1,5%. • Practically, this will have cash flow implications from a budget allocation perspective. Amendment 3:Payment of Pay progression

  10. One of the objectives behind OSD was to ensure that a balance is struck between creating career progression opportunities whilst at the same time encouraging production level to remain in production without being forced to do so for financial benefits. • The OSD also sought to encourage performance by recognising those who excelled through the accelerated grade progression. • The current grade progression with the exception of accelerated grade progression (Performance based) is deemed as being too long. e.g. for a social work grade 1 to progress to the last notch of highest grade (4), it would take 26 years. (For production level SW’s) • Reduction of the number of years required by half for example, would mean that it would take 13 years to get to the last notch of the highest grade (4). • This however, would nullify the accelerated grade progression model, given that performance would not be a factor to be considered. • The department would basically be condoning poor performance. Amendment 4:Reduction of years required for grade progression.

  11. Currently the Social Work dispensation has five (5) levels namely: Social Auxiliary Work, Social Work, Social Work Supervisor, Social Work Manager and Social Work Policy Developer. • The Social Work Assist Manager post previously existed before OSD. • During the introduction of the OSD, the ASWM was merged with the Principal Social Work post and formed what is now called the Social Work Supervisor. • This was done without necessarily considering the implications, which later proved to be an oversight, given the current reporting burdens at production and management levels. • The omission of the Assistant Social Work Manager left a gap in the management of the technical aspects of social work, coordination of programmes and provision of services. • Not having the SWAM compromises continuous professional development. • Creation of the SWAM posts will alleviate the reporting burden from the Social Work Manager and create room for the post to focus on management issues • This will also alleviate the reporting burden from the Social Work Supervisor and allow the supervisor to focus on production and day to day task performed by social workers. • To some extent, this will also provide basis for the reduction of span of control between SW and SWS which currently stands at 1:7, to 1:3 in line with the implemented supervisory framework. Amendment 5:Introducing a new level of Social Work Assistant Manager

  12. Amendment 5:Introducing a new level of Social Work Assistant Manager…

  13. A benchmark was conducted with Assistant Manager Community Development which is currently pitched at R432 384 (Entry Level – 2017/18) – however during 2018/19 is R460 488 (Entry Level) • The Benchmark was found to be valid given that this amount is higher than the entry level of the Social Work Supervisor post but lower than the Social Work Manager Post. • The number of Social Work Assistant Manager Posts required was determined in line with the existing ratios for the other occupations. After conducting various calculations, the ratio for the SWAM was determined to be 1:5 • This basically means that for every five (5) supervisors, there should be one (1) SWAM. SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: SOCIAL WORK ASSISTANT MANAGERS

  14. The public service operates on a general principle of “equal pay for work of equal value. • The OSD for social service professionals should not be exempted from this principle. • One of the failures of the OSD is that given the various developments and improvements since its inception, it has failed to adopt to the changes mainly because it was never reviewed every three (3) years as outlined in resolution 3 of 2009. • Many of the changes that have occurred over the years have a bearing on the remuneration of certain occupational levels: • Changes and improvements in the sector legislative mandate • The level of responsibility • The impact of services rendered • Specialisation and professionalization of certain categories • Introduction of improved qualification • The range of stakeholders and level of communication • The expansion of services and change of environments • The current grades for the respective occupations can be compared to the following salary levels within the public service: Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals

  15. In light of the current levels and to test the principle of “equal pay for work of equal value” a comparison was done for the three (3) occupations in question: • Social worker with a Senior Administrative Officer (SL8) • Community development practitioner with Administration Officer (SL7) • Child and youth care worker with Administration Clerk (SL5) • The comparison was done taking into consideration the various factors that play a role in the determination of a salary level/grade Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals

  16. Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals (SW)

  17. Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals (CDP)

  18. Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals (CYCW)

  19. Based on the analysis outlined, it is prominent that the principle applied in the public service of “equal pay for work of equal value” has not been consistently applied. • Therefore, it is on this basis that the following proposals with regards to the entry levels are recommended for implementation : Amendment 6:Review of Entry levels for Social Service Professionals: SUMMARY

  20. Costing is based on a number of scenarios or variances • The proposed comparable salary levels/ grades for each of the occupations in question can be linked to the first notch of the grade 2 respectively: FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: REVIEW OF ENTRY LEVELS • This basically means that the proposed entry level for each of the occupations in line with comparable levels is grade 2 of the 1st notch, this basically does away with grade 1 of the respective occupations. • Translation will be done in line with the principle of “notch for notch”, this will cater for the practitioners who have already progressed based on their experience and performance. • In order to accurately calculate the costs that will be incurred for these proposals, the number of practitioners in each grade as well as in each notch needs to be identified. Currently only the numbers of practitioners in each grade are available hence a min, max and average approach will be utilised. • The difference between notches were calculated for each occupation and the Min, Max and Average was determined for costing purposes.

  21. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: REVIEW OF ENTRY LEVELSSUMMARY OF COSTING

  22. It is recommended that PHSDSBC to: Note proposed amendments to OSD for social service professions and occupations, and rationale thereof. Note the financial implications of the proposed amendments to OSD for social service professionals RECCOMMENDATIONS

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