RIYADH: A salary increase, more benefits and more job satisfaction are a few of the motives for employees to pursue job promotions. However, aspirations and expectations are often accompanied by apprehensions about a possible transfer to a faraway region, frequently prompting employees to turn down a promotion offer. This is likely to have a negative impact on employees’ performance and productivity, as stated by a report in Al-Riyadh newspaper.
Abdullah Al-Faisali, director general of the department for promotion at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that about 30 percent of government employees promoted elsewhere in the Kingdom refuse to take up the job. He added that the ministry is facing problems at two levels with regard to this issue. The first level — which in turn can be divided into three types of problems — is related to the employee himself, and the second level is associated with the government department.
According to Al-Faisali, the first problem the employee faces is the absence of higher posts at his workplace. Instead of taking up a higher-grade vacancy at a workplace away from home, some employees prefer to wait until the vacancy arises in their office, even if they know this is not likely to happen soon. There are also cases of stiff competition among employees to secure a higher post at a workplace even before the vacancy arises.
Al-Faisali noted that the second problem occurs when there are vacancies for specialized jobs at their workplace, but the employees have not fulfilled the conditions and norms to take up these posts. The concerned government agencies should arrange posts in accordance with the requirements. Those who have completed the required period for eligibility of promotion or who have been waiting for a long period of time without accepting a higher promotion grade outside their workplace should be given preference to such positions. In addition, the status of jobs needs to be improved by changing the designation of some posts or lowering their grades, in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.
The third problem is the lack of vacancies. Even if the employee is ready to take up a higher position at any place, there are often no posts vacant anywhere. This problem is caused by the failure of the concerned agency to report vacancies in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.
Referring to the case of employees who refuse to take up a higher grade promotion post elsewhere, Al-Faisali noted that most of the government departments do not secure a prior written undertaking from the employees that they are ready to take up a higher promotion post at its offices anywhere. Therefore, when the decision for their promotion comes, they refuse to take it up. They then come forward with the strategy of suggesting somebody related to them to take up the post. “It is unfortunate that government departments are not in a position to compel their employees to take up the post. This is a violation of the government rule that stipulates that an employee is compelled to take up a higher promotion grade at his workplace for a period of at least one year. The rule also states that an employee is not allowed to be transferred or entrusted to do a job outside his workplace, except in certain situations and only in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Service,” said Al-Faisali.
Al-Faisali also added that some government departments are not keen on ensuring that the promoted employees are working at their actual workplace. For example, when an employee is promoted to a higher grade in another town, he joins duty and works there for one day. Then, the concerned department issues an order asking him to come back and work at his previous workplace. Such actions, in total violation of the law, often trigger complaints from a large number of employees. Al-Faisali urged all government departments to make use of a mechanism at the Civil Service Ministry to follow up and record such violations on the personal files of the concerned employees.
Abdullah Al-Rasheedi, an employee, hoped that the recent discussion about the promotion of government employees at the Shoura Council would bring forth positive results that serve the interests of the employees. It is noteworthy that the Shoura Council rejected the proposal of a member to revoke the provision of the law regarding promotion of employees. This provision states that an employee, transferred to another workplace because of a promotion, should not be transferred back before completion of at least one year.
Abdul Aziz Al-Yousuf, another employee, noted that the transfer of an employee as part of his promotion to a remote city sometimes creates a big vacuum in his job and living conditions.
Muhammad Al-Abdullah, an employee at the Ministry of Health, recounts his ordeal of traveling every day a distance of 340 km between his house in Al-Qassim region and his workplace in Majma. “Promotion has brought me much trouble and suffering, both physically as well as psychologically,” he added.
