The withdrawal of quotas from the Integrated Management and Performance Assessment System in Public Administration (SIADAP) has been ruled out, but now the government admits there is a “wider scope” of the scoring levels, Presidency Minister Mariana Vieira revealed on Tuesday da Silva, at a parliamentary hearing. This means an acceleration of career development in the Civil Service and therefore a larger salary increase. The final proposal will be presented to the unions in July, but the next technical meeting is already scheduled for May 23.
Currently, 75% of the state’s more than 745,000 employees can be rated “adequate” and receive a point in an annual evaluation cycle; 25% of employees qualify for the “relevant” rank, earning two points per year; and of these, only 5% can be considered “excellent”, making three points in 12 months. “This quota system is the most unfair that exists because it does not allow to recognize merit. It is almost forbidden to be excellent,” José Abraão told Dinheiro Vivo, secretary general of the Federation of Trade Unions of Public Administration ( Fesap). In that sense, and responding to the demands of union structures, the executive is considering not only expanding those levels to allow more employees to achieve those three types of notations, but also limiting quota percentages to occupational category or specific career rather than make them think about the total universe of state workers, José Abraão told Dinheiro Vivo.
Before the arrival of the troika in Portugal, “services rated as excellent were entitled to a 10% increase in the quota of “relevant”, recalls the union leader. “However, it is not yet clear whether the government intends to reinstate this benefit,” he said.
The extension of SIADAP’s quota is in line with other proposals presented to the unions by the Presidency Ministry at the end of January, which concern the annual review cycle, which currently takes place every two years, and the creation of a new note between “adequate” and “relevant”. The aim is for the new SIADAP to enter into force in 2025 and take effect a year later.
In addition to these measures, there is another one already in effect that allows employees to keep the performance evaluation points left over from progress. For example, a worker with 12 points would use 10 to advance and lose the other two, but now those points are saved, allowing the next progress to be faster.
Due to the combined effect of these changes, the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva, estimates that “an employee who is always excellent and who now takes 40 years to reach the top can reach the same position in 30 years”. ‘ she said during a hearing in the parliamentary committee on public administration, land use planning and local government. That is, career progression and the resulting increase in pay could accelerate for 10 years.
Another change that is on the table concerns “the strengthening of the competencies assessment component”, the minister also announced. The aim is to differentiate grades by level of education, valuing those with more qualifications.
The government is also working “on an online platform available to the services of the Central Administration to simplify, make the whole evaluation process easier and more automatic,” the Secretary of State for Public Administration, Inês Ramires, announced at the same time as parliamentary hearing. .
The final proposal will be presented in July. The next technical meeting with unions representing civil servants is scheduled for May 23.
In parallel with the revision of the SIADAP, next year the government will proceed with an extraordinary measure designed to help civil servants with a career of 18 years who have faced the two nine-year freezes, between 2005 and 2007 and between 2011 and 2017, the cabinet announced at the end of March. In this situation there are about 349,000 employees who will be able to progress faster from 2024 when they reach six points in the SIADAP, i.e. four less than the current requirement of 10, and those who remain from this exceptional progress will continue to count towards the normal rating system.
The extraordinary progression will not only take place in 2024, but in the years to come. For example, anyone who only has one point next year and meets the requirements for extra promotion will in practice have to wait another five years for the six points (as a rule, one corresponds to one year) and can therefore benefit from this extra leap. .
SIADAP came into effect in 2008. Shortly thereafter, in 2011, the securities were frozen and it was not until 2018 that officials received progress again.
Salomé Pinto is a journalist for Dinheiro Vivo
Source: DN
