The Public Service Commissioner issued a public apology, regarding a post on their Facebook page on the Performance Planning period.
This post was accompanied by a photo of rabbits wearing suits and running behind a turtle on a skateboard during a race with the caption, “Be smart! No one cares about your efforts, only the results”.
The post drew numerous criticisms on social media questioning the PSC’s “professionalism”. Others anticipate the post regarding the ongoing negotiations with PSC and MOH over the new salary remunerations offered to doctors.
In Parliament last week, Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele said excessive overtime and allowances between $10,000 a week to $150,000 a year for one junior doctor.
As reported earlier, Director General of Health Aiono Dr. Alec Ekeroma has cited a comprehensive “abuse of overtime claims inflating payouts to all levels of staff” with the Ministry of Health. He pointed out during an interview with Savali, some OT claims are not believable at 120 hours of OT in a fortnight.
PSC proposed to pay overtime at the normal rate of pay for all permanent employees at their existing salaries up to the level of $68,695 per annum. PSC says this is a substantial deviation or increase from the fixed rate of $18,494 currently applied to all other essential services.
