Don’t get scared of retirement – Public Service Commission

Dr Lawrence A. Kannae, Vice Chairman of the Public Service Commission on Wednesday said the Commission is urgently considering the running of programmes to ensure that employees get adequate knowledge on retirement policies in the public service.

Dr Kannae, said some employees always expressed fears when they were due for retirement blaming that on lack of preparedness.

He said some employees therefore apply for post-retirement contract so that they could continue to work.

Dr Kannae was speaking at the launch of the 2015 State of the Public Service Report (SoPSR) in Accra; the 344-page book survey covers areas such as Effective Leadership, Human Resource Management Development, and Transparency and Accountability in Public Service Organizations. It was sponsored by the World Bank.

According to Dr Kannae, it was important that employees were handed down with needed knowledge so they would adequately prepare for their retirement.

He said currently there was no policy to prepare staff towards retirement and urged Public Service Organizations to initiate programmes to prepare staff towards retirement.

“If you prepare well, when you are served with letters, you will not get heart attacks,” he said.

On employees’ annual leave, the Vice Chairman explained that annual leave was a right that ought to be enjoyed by all.

Dr Kannae therefore urged employers to encourage employees to go on leave.

He observed that people who often refuse to go on leave end up collapsing on the job and saddled with stress and depression.

“If you fail to go on leave and you fall down and die, remember you will be replaced,” he said.

Touching on the report, Dr Kannae stressed that it was important that recruitment were done transparently through advertisement for other citizens to benefit.

He said some of the challenges contained in the report did not require huge financial requirement and appealed to institutions to effect these changes.

Source: GNA