New civil servants to get less annual leave

Come Jan 1, annual leave entitlement for new civil servants, with the exception of police, army, maritime enforcement and education officers, will be reduced by five days.

Currently, civil servants are entitled to 30 days in annual leave.

However, as a legal requirement, all serving civil servants would be given an option to retain their entitlement or opt for the new reduced entitlement, Public Services Department director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam said on Thursday.

"Option papers will be given out soon as the last day of exercising the option is Dec 31.

"Those who do not submit their option papers by that date would be deemed as staying on with the current entitlement," he told Bernama Thursday.

Meanwhile, CUEPACS will meet Ismail Friday to discuss the matter, among other relevant issues.

Its secretary-general, Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin, said it wanted to know the rationale behind the reduction.

He said it would not be fair to reduce the entitlement as the new civil servants would lose out in the long run.

For example, Ahmad Shah said, new entrants to the civil service who served 30 years, would lose 150 days of leave which translated to five months.

He said CUEPACS would seek to compensate such officers.

- Bernama