IPOH: The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has proposed forming a joint task force to develop a comprehensive justification for improving the administrative assistant service scheme.
Cuepacs president Datuk Adnan Mat said that the proposal was presented during a meeting with the Public Service Department (JPA) held on Wednesday (Nov 19), along with three options for upgrading the grade of the post.
"The proposed task force should include representatives from both JPA and the Cuepacs task force, as we also have a special committee that has conducted studies and submitted findings related to the scheme.
"During the meeting, we also re-presented the three grade upgrade options previously suggested," he said.
He made the remarks after attending the Perak State Administrative Assistants and Public Administration Reform Day Programme on Thursday (Nov 20).
Previously, Cuepacs submitted three proposals to JPA to improve the grades for the post, including a grade increase from N1 to N5, a one-off implementation similar to schemes introduced in 2016 for those with academic qualifications, and automatic promotions after a certain number of service years.
Regarding the proposal to extend the mandatory retirement age of civil servants to 65, Adnan said no final decision had been made as the matter was still under government review.
"In the future, there are expected to be two main schemes in the civil service: the Pensionable Permanent Scheme and the Contributory Permanent Appointment Scheme.
"The current government policy maintains retirement at age 60, but for the contributory permanent scheme, we see that some adjustments may be needed, which require further consideration," he said.
Earlier, Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz reportedly said that consultations were ongoing between JPA, Cuepacs, and related parties, including retirees' associations, regarding the proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age of civil servants to 65. – Bernama
