September 2014Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO1 The Selection Process for the Filling of Vacancies in...

September 2014 Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO 1

The Selection Processfor the

Filling of Vacanciesin the

Public Service


Aims of the Presentation

• To provide participants with a brief exposure to the machinery used in the making of appointments in the Public Service through selection exercises

• To elaborate on the duties of the Selection Board in staff selection processes

September 2014Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO 3

Constitutional Provisions (1)

In exercising their functions, the Prime Minister, the Public Service Commission, the Principal Permanent Secretary and Heads of Department are subject to the Provisions of Chapter X of the Constitution of Malta and to the Public Service Commission Regulations (S.L.Const.01 -

http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&itemid=8969&l=1)



Article 110 (1) of the Constitution states that power to make appointments to public offices (and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices) vests in the Prime Minister, acting on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission

Provided that the Prime Minister may, acting on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission, delegate in writing through an Instrument of Delegation, any of the powers referred to in this subsection to such public officer or authority as may be specified in that Instrument



Some examples of Instruments of Delegation currently in force:

•Power to the Principal Permanent Secretary to recruit following a selection exercise carried out under the auspices of the Board of Local Public Examinations

•Power to the Public Service Commission to approve appointments, including postponement and revocation of appointments, and withholding of progression to higher salary scale(s), as applicable, in respect of public offices in Salary Scales 6 to 20, both scales included


The Public Service Commission Regulations

Recruitment to public offices, both from within and from outside the Service, is to be carried out in accordance with the Public Service Commission Regulations normally following the issue of an appropriate call for applications


Principles Governing the Making of Appointments (1)

Article 21* of the Public Administration Act (Chap. 497 of the Laws of Malta), regarding the Merit Principle, states that:

“21. (1) Except as otherwise provided for in this or any other Act, appointments to public offices shall be made by competitive selection on merit.

(2) For the purpose of this article, competitive selection on merit means the selection of the candidate best suited for the office on the basis of an assessment of eligible candidates’ individual and relative merits against the requirements of that office.”*still to come into force

Principles Governing the Making of Appointments (2)

• Assessment must be fair and, as far as possible, objective

• Competition must be open and well publicised

• The whole process must be carried out in an expeditious manner

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Other Rules Governing the Selection ProcessAdditional rules, policies and guidelines are issued from time to time in Circulars by the Principal Permanent Secretary or by the Director General PAHRO or by the Director (Resourcing), in consultation with the Public Service Commission. These are codified in Chapter 1 of Public Service Management Code (http://www.pahro.gov.mt/chapter-1-1)

Appointment of Selection Boards • Concurrently with the issue of the call for

applications, the Head of Department will appoint the Selection Board

• The Selection Board is composed of a Chairperson and at least 2 Members, being serving public officers and/or persons listed on the Ministerial Standing Selection Panel (SSP), provided that the Board includes at least one serving public officer


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Accountability of Selection Boards

• A Selection Board is part of the machinery of the Public Service Commission and its members are therefore subject to the restriction on disclosure of information laid down in the Public Service Commission Regulations. This means that no member of the board may divulge the report or proceedings of the board to any other person, whether a public officer or not.

• In the course of discharging its duties, the Selection Board is to refer to the Executive Secretary, Public Service Commission, any queries which the Board may have in relation to matters arising from the selection process. The decision of the Commission shall be final and is to be acted upon by the Selection Board.

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Establishing the Selection Criteria • Concurrently with the issue of the call for applications the

head of department will also propose a set of criteria and weightings to be followed by the Selection Board in assessing eligible applicants, and will forward his/her proposals for the approval of the Public Service Commission

• Selection criteria should only be adopted by the Selection Board after they are formally approved by the Public Service Commission

• The criteria are not to be altered without the prior approval of the Public Service Commission

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What happens after the closing date? (1)

Immediately upon the closing date for receipt of applications, the head of department will furnish the Chairperson and each Member of the Selection Board with:

• A list of all applications received by the deadline, including details concerning name, address, grade and Department (if any), date of birth, I.D. number, qualifications, etc. of every applicant

• A similar but separate list of late applications

September 2014


What happens after the closing date? (2)The Chairperson and Members are to ensure that they satisfy the conditions laid down in the standard PSC Declaration Form No. 6 - “Conflict of Interest” (http://www.pahro.gov.mt/forms-and-templates?l=1 ), i.e. that:

• They are not related to any candidate by consanguinity or affinity to the fourth degree inclusive

• They are not the tutors or curators of any candidate in terms of the Civil Code

• Their non-work-related activities, including but not limited to, any participation in political activities, do not place them in a conflict of interest as a Chairperson/Member of the Selection Board

and are to submit immediate notification should they not be in a position to sign the form or otherwise consider that their serving on the Selection Board could create a conflict of interestSeptember 2014


What happens after the closing date? (3)

The head of department will also furnish the Chairperson of the Selection Board with the completed application forms as well as accompanying documentation

September 2014


Preliminary Meeting (1)Once appointed, a Selection Board should hold a preliminary meeting. During the preliminary meeting, the Selection Board should:-

• Familiarise itself with the contents of the call for applications• Vet the applications with the view of determining which

applicants are eligible and those who are not• Ensure that it fully understands the selection criteria and

weightings• Prescribe a set of sub-criteria for each approved criterion

with corresponding allotment of marks• Discuss how to proceed during the interviews• Decide on whether the oral interview is to be supplemented

with additional mechanisms for the assessment of candidates


Preliminary Meeting (2)The Selection Board should read the call for applications carefully and take note of:

• The closing date and closing time for the receipt of applications;

• All the eligibility requirements contained in the call for applications (e.g. citizenship, grade when applicable, salary scale when applicable, academic/professional qualifications, warrant, experience, ability to communicate in the Maltese and English languages, etc.)

• Any specific request for further information requested with applications (e.g. the inclusion of a copy of certificates and/or testimonials on qualifications and experience claimed by candidates, Form GP 47 (signed by a Principal or higher Officer), Certificate of Conduct issued by the Police or other competent authority within the stipulated period, etc.)

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Eligibility (1)

• All eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date and the closing time for the receipt of applications

• Applicants who fail to meet any of the eligibility requirements by the established closing date and time should be deemed ineligible for the post/position in question, even in cases where applicants subsequently fully meet such requirements after the closing date for applications

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Eligibility (2)

Should there be difficulties in establishing whether a candidate satisfies the eligibility criteria, that candidate is not to be summoned for an interview by the Selection Board before it is ascertained that the candidate is, in fact, eligible


Late Applications

IF . . .

the Selection Board receives a late but otherwise valid application

THEN . . .

the applicant should be clearly informed of his/her shortcoming in writing and that he/she cannot be considered for the post/position on account of the closing date and time established in the call for applications


Applications by Ineligible Candidates

IF . . .

the Selection Board receives an application that does not satisfy one or more of the eligibility requirements

THEN . . .

the applicant should be clearly informed in writing that he/she cannot be considered for the post/position, specifying the eligibility requirements of the call for applications not met by the applicant


Applications with Missing Information

IF . . .

the Selection Board receives an application which does not contain copies of documents/other information requested in the call for applications

THEN . . .

the applicant should be asked in writing to provide the missing information by a set date. Should the missing information represent an eligibility requirement, the Selection Board should not decide on the applicant’s eligibility until the lapse of the allowed time period


Setting the Sub-Criteria (1)

• Sub-criteria (and the corresponding allotment of marks) for every criterion approved by the Public Service Commission are to be set by the Selection Board and submitted to the Commission prior to the commencement of the actual interviews and are to be applied uniformly to all candidates

• Sub-criteria should be specific to the area covered by the call for applications and should reflect the type of expertise, particular experience and specific qualities required for the post/position


Setting the Sub-Criteria (2)• Insofar as the criterion ‘Qualifications’, or ‘Related

Qualifications’ or ‘Relevant Qualifications’ is concerned, no marks are to be awarded for those qualifications presented by an applicant which form part of the eligibility criteria and on the basis of which the applicant is considered as being eligible as indicated in the relevant call for applications

• In such cases, marks may be awarded for the ranking obtained in the relative degree or other qualification

• However, marks given for ranking should not exceed 25% of the total mark for the criterion approved by the Commission

(Further details regarding marks to be awarded for qualifications may be found at Section 8 of the “Guidelines for Appointments in the Public Service” available at http://www.pahro.gov.mt/forms-and-templates?l=1)


Setting the Sub-Criteria (3) – an example

The approved marking scheme for a particular post included the criterion ‘experience’ to which were allotted 25 marks out of a total of 100.

The selection panel defined the criterion as incorporating three elements:

• years of service in the next lower grade: two marks per completed year of service, to a maximum of 10 marks

• years of service/experience in other relevant public or private sector employment: two marks per completed year of service/experience, to a maximum of 10 marks

• special assignments in the trade requiring exceptional skill or expertise: bonus of 5 marks

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Supplementary Selection Mechanisms

• May include office skills tests, short tests of writing proficiency, multiple choice questions or IQ tests

• To be undergone by all eligible candidates, and not as a qualifying stage on the basis of which candidates could be excluded from the interview

• Selection Boards are to seek Public Service Commission approval of their proposed selection mechanisms additional to the interview at the stage when they propose the sub-criteria for the Commission’s consideration

September 2014 Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO


The Service and Leave Record Form (GP 47)

The service of Public Officers detailed with Public Sector Entities is reckonable as “service in the grade”

BUT

No account is to be taken of appointments to grades with Public Sector Entities when determining the eligibility of Public Officers applying for vacancies in the Public Service through internal calls for applications

BECAUSE

Public Sector Entities have a separate legal personality from the Public Service and hence, appointments to grades with such Entities do not have a bearing on the substantive grade of the Public Officer in question


Letters of ReferenceLetters of reference submitted by applicants are acceptable provided that:-

• they were not drawn up by any person forming part of the Selection Board in question

• they were drawn up specifically in connection with the filling of the posts/positions in terms of the call for applications under consideration

• they do not exceed a maximum of three (3) letters of reference

• one (1) letter of reference should be drawn up by the Officer’s current supervisor (unless s/he is sitting on the Selection Board) if s/he has been supervising the officer for at least a one-year period or, if this is not possible, the most recent supervisor with whom the candidate has served for a minimum of one year

• the supervisor making the reference must hold a post/position at Scale 5 or higher


Recognition of Experience

Selection Boards are to keep in mind that previous accredited experience, whether gained within the Public Service, or with a local / foreign employer, is reckonable for the purpose of satisfying eligibility criteria when a person is applying through a public call for applications for a post or position in the Public Service and is also to be taken into consideration when awarding marks during the selection process


Summoning Eligible Candidates (1)

After the Selection Board fully determines the eligibility, or otherwise, of all candidates for a given post/position in terms of the respective call for applications, it should notify eligible candidates well in advance, preferably not less than ten (10) working days, of the place, date and time of the holding of the interview. Only eligible applicants are to be called for the interview.


If an applicant, owing to a justifiable reason, fails to attend for an interview on the date and time notified, the Selection Board may at its discretion allow the applicant concerned to be interviewed on another occasion which is suitable to the Chairperson and Members of the Board

Summoning Eligible Candidates (2)


Summoning Eligible Applicants (3)

If an applicant is unable to physically attend for an interview, the Selection Board may carry out the interview by video-conference. Conducting interviews over the telephone, however, is not permissible.


Interviewing & Assessing Eligible Applicants

• A Selection Board is required to assess eligible applicants only on the basis of the criteria and weightings approved by the Public Service Commission for that specific case

• Some of the usual criteria approved by the Public Service Commission typically include: Related Knowledge, Relevant Experience, Qualifications

• Immediately after each interview, the members review and rate that candidate’s performance, and allot marks jointly against each of the approved selection criteria

• Records of interviews, including brief notes on information and general impressions left by candidates, should also be kept by the Board in case any queries or petitions originate


Non-discrimination

Assessments should be free from any form of discrimination on any grounds according to relevant legislation, namely the Employment & Industrial Relations Act (Cap. 452), the Equal Treatment in Employment Regulations (SL 452.95) and the Equality for Men and Women Act (Cap. 456) – e.g.

•family responsibilities

•gender

•marital status

•pregnancy or potential pregnancy

•sex / sexual orientation

•racial or ethnic origin

•disability

•age

•religion or religious belief

•political opinion or membership in a trade union or in an employers’ association

Equality of Opportunity

• Registered persons with a disability who do not satisfy the full eligibility requirements in calls for applications, but who are capable of carrying out, in essence, the duties attached to a particular post/position, may request reasonable accommodation when applying for posts/positions in the Public Service. The Selection Board is to await instructions from the PSC on whether one or more of the eligibility requirements may be waived

• Where calls for applications require sitting for an examination, persons registered with the KNPD are to be allowed special examination arrangements, on the lines of those established in the University of Malta Guidelines to MATSEC Examinations Access Arrangements, 2011 (http://www.um.edu.mt/about/services/support/access)



Establishing the Order of Merit (1)

• The award of fractions of a mark in the final result is not allowed

• Ties (i.e. the award of the same mark in the result sheet to more than one candidate) are only allowed in exceptional circumstances



While retaining the approved selection criteria in the same proportion as that approved by the Commission, Selection Boards should automatically increase the marking range as follows:

• Where the number of applicants is up and including 25 applicants, the range of marks is to be 0 to 100;

• Where the number of applicants is between 26 and 50, the range of marks is to be 0 to 200;

• Where the number of applicants is over 50, the marking range is to be 0 to 300.

Should the Board feel that a further increase in the range of marks of a particular interview is justified, the specific approval of the Commission is to be sought


• Cases such as those resulting in ties, or where the difference in ranking order is that of one/two marks, especially where the difference is in selection criteria that are subjective in nature and in particular where ‘Personality’ is involved, or borderline failures, require specific scrutiny

• Selection Boards should keep notes and workings related to the selection process

• Selection Boards should be in a position to comment on any points made by applicants in eventual petitions to the Public Service Commission


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Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO


The order of merit of candidates who obtain the same total mark is determined according to Section 1.3.9.6 of the Public Service Management Code (http://www.pahro.gov.mt/chapter-1-3)

Retention periods for notes and workings of the Selection Board

• To be of the same duration as the validity period of the respective result, unless (i) a petition connected with the particular call for applications has been filed with the Public Service Commission; and/or (ii) a complaint has been filed with the Ombudsman in relation to the call for applications

• When an applicant files a petition with the Commission or a complaint with the Ombudsman, Selection Boards are to retain their notes and workings for a period of 2 years from the date of publication of the result

• In exceptionally protracted cases where there are indications that a 2-year retention period may be insufficient, PSC will direct the Selection Board to retain its notes until the conclusion of the case

• As regards positions co-financed from EU funds, the retention period for the Selection Board’s notes/workings should be the same as the retention period for application forms, as stipulated in the regulations governing the relative EU programme for which the particular call for applications is issued



The Selection Board Report (1)

The Selection Board report should include the following information:-

• The total number of applicants, distinguishing between eligible and ineligible applicants

• Reasons why any applicants have been considered ineligible

• Cases of absentees/withdrawn applications - applicants who withdraw are expected to confirm in writing and the letter of withdrawal is to form part of the report

• Any comments that the Board may wish to submit



The following should be submitted as appendices to the report:-

a) The PSC Declaration Forms 6 and 7

b) A statement showing the sub-criteria and weightings thereon, as determined by the Selection Board

c) An assessment sheet indicating the marks allotted to each candidate under each criterion and sub-criterion



d) two (2) copies of the Result Sheet of the interview showing the set maximum mark and pass mark, the names and ID numbers of the eligible candidates in order of merit and the final mark given. In the case of candidates who fail to obtain a pass mark, the name is to be left out and the letter “F” is to be inserted in the “Order of Merit” column. These result sheets are to have the full signature of the Chairperson and members of the Selection Board on each page



The Selection Board’s report and all accompanying documents should be typewritten and not handwritten.



A specimen Selection Board report, assessment sheet and result sheet may be downloaded from the website of the Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO at the address:

http://www.pahro.gov.mt/forms-and-templates?l=1



Minority Reports:-

• In its report, the Selection Board should also state whether the members were unanimous in their conclusions

• If not, the dissenting minority should state its views and the reasons for dissent (such minority reports are exceptional - most differences of opinion may often be resolved by discussion and goodwill)

• Minority reports are to be transmitted separately to the Commission and the majority report should not be signed by the dissenting minority



• The Chairperson and Members of the Selection Board should include their full name and signature at the end of every copy of the report and appendices

• Every page forming part of the main text of the report and appendices should be initialed by the Chairperson and Members



• The report and appendices are to be submitted directly to the Executive Secretary, Public Service Commission under confidential cover

• A copy of these confidential documents should also be transmitted to the Head of Department where the vacancy exists

• The Selection Board should also retain a confidential copy of the report (incl. workings thereto) and should only refer to the report if so required by the Commission


Candidates who Request Breakdown of Marks

• A breakdown of the result is given by the Executive Secretary of the Public Service Commission, or by the respective Head of Department, only at the specific request of a candidate and only in respect of his/her performance during the interview

• Those candidates who, in addition, request to know the marks given to them for the sub-criteria set by Selection Boards in respect of the selection criteria approved by the Commission, are to be given the information requested


Accountability

The members of a Selection Board are accountable to the Public Service Commission and are jointly and severally responsible for ensuring that approved selection procedures are faithfully observed and that candidates are assessed fairly


Further Information

Further information is available in the “Guidelines for Appointments in the Public Service”. The guidelines, as well as an electronic copy of this presentation, may be downloaded from the website of the Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO at the address:

http://www.pahro.gov.mt/forms-and-templates?l=1

Thank you for your attention


September 2014Resourcing Directorate, PAHRO1 The Selection Process for the Filling of Vacancies in...

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