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Manual on Staff Development in the Public Service |
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5. Local External Training |
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5.1 Government Sponsored Local Courses 5.1.1 Serving officers who are selected by Government to undergo courses for specific needs identified by the Government may be granted the following: a) paid study leave; b) payment of course fees, if any; c) a book and equipment allowance as specified in the relative circular/call for applications; the allowance is payable during the course of each academic year. 5.1.2 Persons who undergo courses of training locally which are a pre-requisite for appointment and who were not in the service on a regular, full-time basis, or were employed on a part-time or casual basis on the date on which the notice calling for applications was issued, are entitled to: a) a personal allowance of €139.74/Lm60per month; b) payment of course fees, if any; c) a book and equipment allowance as specified in the relative circular/call for applications; and d) if married, a dependants' allowance on the following scale:
Children - €617.19/Lm265 per child per annum €3703.11/Lm1590pa 5.1.3 A scholarship holder may not engage in any paid employment without the permission of the Head of the respective department. Where such permission is given, the personal allowance is reduced by an amount equal to the remuneration received in respect of such employment. 5.2 Courses Undertaken on Own Initiative 5.2.1 Officers who undertake courses on their own initiative may normally be granted study leave without pay on condition that: a) the officers concerned should have been employed in Government service for a minimum period of one year; b) the officers provide documentary evidence from the training organisation concerned, confirming that they have been admitted to the course of study/training; and c) there are no objections from the Head of the officers’ employing department. 5.2.2 Officers who have been employed in Government service for less than one year may be granted thirty days unpaid study leave subject to the conditions at (b) and (c) above. 5.2.3 Approval of unpaid study leave may be granted for an initial period not exceeding one year. It may, however, be renewed on an annual basis for the duration of the course of studies originally undertaken by the employee. Such an extension of unpaid study leave should be conditional to progress in the officer’s studies. 5.2.4 In the case of courses undertaken at the University of Malta, officers are to report for duty during the University summer recess within their respective department and they will receive their substantive salary. They will also be entitled to pro-rata vacation leave and sick leave. 5.2.5 In certain circumstances, officers may be granted paid study leave for short periods. Requests for paid study leave are considered: a) on the production of satisfactory documentary evidence confirming the officers’ admission for the course; b) if the course has a direct connection with the officers’ current duties; c) provided the employing departments are able to release the officers without needing a replacement. 5.2.6 The Rules Governing the Award of Scholarships at Appendix III apply when granting paid study leave. 5.2.7 In the case of full-time courses, the grant of paid study leave or payment of any funds related to full-time study is subject to the following provisions: a) officers may only be granted paid study leave to undergo a course for specific priority needs identified by Government; b) selection should be made after the issue of a service-wide or Ministry/Department call for applications and selected officers would be granted paid study leave and/or payment of tuition fees for the duration of their course; and c) such granting of study leave or any other study-associated grants will be made and revised on an annual basis and their extension will depend on the officers’ progress in their studies. 5.3 Other Local Courses 5.3.1 Apart from facilities provided by the University of Malta, a number of public sector and private training organisations are available locally and it is important that a detailed evaluation of the courses on offer is made before employees are authorised to attend courses organised by these bodies. 5.3.2 Private training organisations may also be approached in order to organise training programmes in specific areas when the necessary expertise is not available within the public sector. In this event, it is important that departments should initially discuss this alternative with the SDO prior to finalising arrangements with the training organisations concerned. 5.3.3 When granting any form of sponsorship it is important to keep in mind that training, whether local or abroad, is an investment in people which, apart from benefiting the individual, should be of great benefit to the organisation. Hence, careful study of the Return on Investment the government will achieve must be made, based on the criteria outlined in this Manual. 5.4 Facilities for Time-off 5.4.1 The grant of time-off to public officers in order to attend courses of study during office hours is bound to cause some disruption to the employing department. Therefore, time-off should be granted very sparingly except where it can be shown that such attendance would clearly be beneficial to the Public Service. A general condition for the grant of time-off is that an officer must show that the course he/she desires to attend is not available after normal working hours. Time-off will commence at the time the officer leaves his/her place of work until the officer returns to his/her desk or until the officer’s clocking off time. 5.4.2 Subject to the above conditions, the grant of time-off is regulated as follows: a) Compulsory attendance - Where attendance at lectures is insisted upon by the employing department, time-off may be granted without the need to compensate for lost working hours by after-hours attendance. b) Non-compulsory attendance - i) Background or vocational training - Where officers seek to attend lectures or courses with a vocational bias and having a definite bearing on their work, time-off may be allowed subject to the officers concerned making up to 50% of such time-off by after-hours attendance and provided work is not allowed to accumulate or fall in arrear; ii) Non-vocational training - Where officers seek permission to attend courses which have no direct connection with their work and are not likely to make them more efficient in their duties, time-off, within a limit of six hours per week, may be granted on condition that it is compensated for by an equal period of attendance outside office hours and subject to its grant not causing any inconvenience or additional expenditure. 5.4.3 Where time-off is granted, its continuation is conditional on satisfactory progress in the course of studies. 5.5 Duty During the Summer Vacation Government employees following courses of study locally are to be recalled to perform duty in their department during the period of the summer vacation of the institutions where they are following such courses of study, irrespective of whether they are on paid or unpaid study leave. The Christmas and Easter academic holidays are considered as Vacation Leave. 5.6 Permission to Attend Local Conferences, Seminars, or other personal development activities. It is desirable to encourage staff to keep abreast of developments in particular fields. Heads of Department may, therefore, authorise the attendance of officers at local conferences, seminars and other activities held during working hours. However, in order not to disrupt unduly departmental routines, such permission should be given only if it is in the department's interest to be represented. Alternatively individual officers may, of course, utilise their vacation leave to attend conferences, seminars, or personal development activities which take place during office hours. |
