Human Resource Management in the Organization - Recruitment Procedure of the Department of Labour

Human Resource Management is the process of planning, recruiting, selecting, performance evaluation, and apprising the employees of human resource aspects from the top-level management by working with and through people. Human resources are the most valuable and important assets of any organization. The success or failure of any organization heavily depends on the excellence of employees working there. Without proper, positive attitudes and creative supports from employees’ organizations cannot progress in prosper. 

Here I did a critical evaluation of the recruitment process of the Department of Labor in Sri Lanka. Department of Labor (DOL) functions under the Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations and the DOL is one of the largest government department which contributes to the socio-economic development in Sri Lanka through the establishment of a decent work environment in a workplace. And also there are five main organizations under the Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations.

The main role of the DOL is implementing legislation to maintain industrial peace of the workplace while protecting labor rights. For achieved this aim, these functions are implemented under 13 divisions of the DOL, 11 Zonal Labor Offices, 40 District Labor Offices, 10 District Factory Engineering Offices, and 17 Sub Labor Offices.

Organogram of the Organization

The above organogram depicts the drafted common organizational structure of each and every division and other zonal, district, engineering, and sub labor offices in DOL.

Appointments to government posts in Sri Lanka are made up of two parts namely;

• Provincial Public Service Appointments and
• Central Government Appointments

 

Appointments to the provincial public service are made from the provinces who are qualified to fill the vacancies in the province.

Most of these central government appointments are for ministries and departmental posts.

The Department of Labor belongs to the central government.

The power of appointment to the State Services is vested in the Cabinet Ministers under the constitution. Appointments to the following posts in the government will be made directly by the Cabinet of Ministers.

• Additional Secretaries to the Ministries
• Heads of the Department
• Government Agents in charge of Districts in Sri Lanka

 

The power to appoint all other types of public officers is vested in the Public Service Commission by the Cabinet.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has the power to make appointments, promotions, disciplinary action, and dismissal in the central government of Sri Lanka.

Although the Public Service Commission is empowered to make appointments to central government posts, the power vested in them by the Public Service Commission for certain appointments in the central government is decentralized.

Combined Services include the following government services in Sri Lanka.

• Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Service
• Government Translators’ Service
• Sri Lanka Librarians’ Service
• Development Officers’ Services
• Management Service Officers’ Service
• Combined Drivers’ Service
• Office Employees’ Service

 

The combined service appointing authority is the Director-General of Combined Services. Director-General of Combined Services performs duties at the Ministry of Public Service, Provincial Councils, and Local Government.

All Island Services include the following government services in Sri Lanka.

• Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS)
• Sri Lanka Engineering Service
• Sri Lanka Accountants’ Service
• Sri Lanka Planning Service
• Sri Lanka Scientific Service
• Sri Lanka Architectural Service

 

The All Island Service appointing authority is Secretary of the Public Service Commission.

An appointment can only be made to a post in the approved cadre. The creation of the new posts is a function of the Supply and Cadre Division of the Treasury. The procedure to be followed for the creation of posts or increase in cadre will be laid down by the Director of Supply and Cadre. (Approval is required to allocate funds for new recruits.)

The below table shows the DOL posts, related service, and their appointing authority. 

	Posts	Related Service	Appointing Authority
Executive Level Posts	Commissioner General of Labor (Head of the Department - DOL)	Closed Departmental Service (The service is created based on fulfil specific departmental services. The service cannot be established in the other state services in the country except DOL)	Cabinet Minister
	Deputy Commissioner of Labor (DCL)	Closed Department Service or Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS)	Commissioner General of Labor or Secretary of PSC (If the DCL appointed through closed department service, the appointing authority is Commissioner General of Labor, otherwise Secretary of the PSC)
	Deputy Inspection Engineers	Sri Lanka Engineering Service	Secretary of PSC
	Director	Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS)	Secretary of PSC
	Legal Officers (Lawyers)	Closed Department Service	Commissioner General of Labor
	Assistant Commissioner of Labor	Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS)	Commissioner General of Labor or Secretary of PSC (If the DCL appointed through closed department service, the appointing authority is Commissioner General of Labor, otherwise Secretary of the PSC)
	Assistant Inspection Engineers	Sri Lanka Engineering Service	Secretary of PSC
	Chief Accountant / Auditor	Sri Lanka Accountants’ Service	Secretary of PSC
	Accountant	Sri Lanka Accountants’  Service	Secretary of PSC
Staff Grade posts (Tertiary Level)	Administrative Officer	Combined Service(Management Service Officers’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Information & Communication Technology Officer	Combined Service (Sri Lanka Information and Technology Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Translation Officer	Combined Service (Government Translators’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
Secondary Level	Labor Officer	Closed Departmental Service	Commissioner General of Labor
	Statistical Officer	Closed Department Service	Commissioner General of Labour
	Development Officer	Combined Service (Development Officers’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Human Resource Development Officers	Closed Departmental Service	Commissioner General of Labor
	IT Assistant	Combined Service(Management Service Officers’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Management Service Officer	Combined Service(Management Service Officers’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
Primary Level	Office Assistant	Combined Service (Office Employees’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Drivers	Combined Service (Combined Drivers’ Service)	Director General of Combined Services
	Labors	Combined Service (Office Employees’ Service) Contract / Permanent	Director General of Combined Services

Recruitment Procedure

Establishment of New Closed Departmental Services

Closed departmental post in the Department of Labor is first created after getting the approval from the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Treasury. The posts of Labor Officer, Human Resource Development Officer, and Legal Officer were created as closed departmental posts. The posts of Assistant Commissioner of Labor and Deputy Commissioner of Labor can be obtained on promotion after completing the required qualifications after serving as a Labor Officer. Also, officers relevant to the Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) may be appointed to the posts of Assistant Commissioner of Labor and Deputy Commissioner of Labor.

The following include the procedure of establishment of closed departmental services. (Labor Officers, Human Resource Development Officers, and Legal Officers)

      

I. Should first, get the approval from the Director of Supply and Cadre (Supply and Cadre division) of the Treasury.

• Granting approval for creating posts
• Granting approval for fill vacancies in the department
• Identifying the posts to be suppressed
• Granting cadre approval and determination of salaries

II. The recruitment of public officers to the central government service is based on the relevant Service Minute or the Scheme of Recruitment.

III. If there are new posts created, the Scheme of Recruitment (SOR) or Service Minute related to the service needs to be prepared.

IV. Scheme of Recruitment or Promotion for every post to be approved by the Director-General of Establishment in the PSC.

V. Service Minute or Scheme of Recruitment or/and Scheme of Promotion should be drawn by the relevant Ministry (Ministry of Labor and Trade Union Relations) or Department (DOL). (Recruitment procedure can be included in a Service Minute of a particular service.)

VI. The Scheme of Recruitment should include the following details

• Recruitment procedure
• Qualifications relevant to the post
• Number of approved cadre
• Duties
• Salary Scale
• Draft notice of call for applications prepared for recruitment to the post.
• Details of the examination related to the post
• If there is an interview, the scoring system
• Officer appointed to the interview
• Promotions

VII. All drafted Scheme of Recruitment should be forwarded by the Secretary of the Ministry (Ministry of Public Services, Provincial Councils and Local government) concerned, to the Director of Establishment (Public service Commission).

VIII. The Public Service Commission will approve the Scheme of Recruitment. (Amendments can be made consultation with the Ministry (Ministry of Public Services, Provincial Councils and Local Government) concerned.

IX. If there is an argument or agreement between the Ministry concerned, and the Public Service Commission, Matters should be submitted to the Cabinet Ministers for approval.

X. Any amendments agreed to between the Ministry concerned and the Public Service Commission, or ordered by the Cabinet Ministers should be incorporated into the Scheme of Recruitment.

XI. The Scheme of Recruitment should be forwarded to the relevant service appointing authority.

XII. Final Scheme of Recruitment should be certified by the Head of the Department (Commissioner General of Labour)

XIII. Certified Scheme of Recruitment should be sent to the Director of Establishment of the PSC for approval.

XIV. After get approval to the Scheme of Recruitment all vacancies should be publicly advertised by appointing authority. Advertisement will not be necessary in the case of promotions within a Department or Service.

XV. Competitive written examinations or/and structured interviews should be conducted according to the recruitment procedure.

 

For labor officers, there are two streams of recruitment to DOL.

Open Examination

•  Those who possessing a University Degree in specific fields

Limited Examination

• Public officers’ who possess a university degree with 10 years of experience in the government body.

XVI. Should prepare a priority list in the order in which they scored in the examination or/and interview.

XVII. The recommendation of the interview board and the number of posts should be mentioned and submitted for approval to the Public Service Commission.

XVIII. If the Public Service Commission satisfied with the selection process of the candidates, action will be taken to issue a formal appointment letter to the candidates. (Requirement is done according to the number of approved posts)

Recruitment procedure when there is a vacancy available in closed departmental posts of Department of Labor;

        

I. The Head of the Department should submit the number of available vacancies and posts to the appointing authority.

II. This process requires the approval of the Head of the Department.

III. If the head of the Department does not approve to fill the number of vacancies, the head of the Department should inform the reasons to the Appointing Authority.

IV. If the head of the Department agrees to fill the available vacancies of the DOL, drafted recruitment advertisement and Scheme of Recruitment or relevant Service Minute should forward to the Appointing Authority.

V. The Appointing Authority should publish the public announcement in the government gazette or newspaper advertisement.

VI. Recruitment is done after calling for applications through a gazette or advertisement.

VII. Competitive examination or/and structured interview conducted by a panel appointed by the appointing authority and they make a list (According to candidates results) of candidates who suit available posts.

VIII. After getting the recommendation of the panel, the appointing authority will issue appointment letters to the candidates.

Recruitment to all-island service positions in the DOL
(Deputy Commissioner of Labor, Assistant Commissioner of Labor, Director, Deputy Inspection Engineer, Assistant Inspection Engineer, Chief Accountant, Accountant, Auditor)


I. The Head of the Department should submit the number of available vacancies and posts at the DOL to the PSC through the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government.

II. The PSC should publish the announcement in the government gazette to recruit suitable candidates for all island services.

Example: All island services operate all over the country. Therefore, PSC gets the total number of available all-island vacancies through the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government. Recruitment for these positions is held once a year or every to year. It is determined by the PSC.

III. Recruitment is done after calling for applications through a gazette.

IV. For all island services, candidates are selected through a competitive examination and structured interview conducted by the panel appointed by the PSC.

There are two streams of recruitment to the all-island services.

Open Examination

• Those who possessing a University Degree in specific fields

Limited Examination

• Public officers’ who possess a university degree with 5 years of experience in the government body.

V. After getting the recommendation of the panel, the Secretary of PSC will issue appointment letters to the selected candidates.
The appointment letter is issued by the appointing authority (Secretary of the PSC) to the relevant department (DOL) according to the existing vacancies.


Recruitment to combined service positions in the DOL
(Translators, Information & Communication Technology Officers, Development Officers, Management Service Officers, IT Assistants, Office Assistants, Drivers, Labors)

I. The Head of the Department should submit the number of available vacancies and posts at the DOL to the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government.

II. The Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government should publish the announcement in the government gazette or newspaper to recruit suitable candidates for combined services.

a. Combined services operate all over the country. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government gets the total number of available combined service vacancies. Recruitment for these positions is held once a year or every two years. It is determined by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government. All the recruitment is done according to the service minute of the relevant service.

III. Recruitment is done after calling for applications through a gazette or paper advertisement.

IV. For combined services, candidates are selected through a competitive examination and/or structured interview and/or practical tests conducted by the panel appointed by the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government. Panel prepared the list of selected candidates based on candidates’ qualifications and marks for interview, and/or exam or/and practical test according to their ranking orders.

According to the service minute of the relevant service, the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government will be conducted the competitive examinations and/or structured interviews or/and practical tests.


V. After getting the recommendation of the panel, the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and, Local Government issue appointment letters to selected candidates.

a. The appointment letter is issued by the appointing authority (Director General of Combined Services) to the relevant department (DOL) according to the existing vacancies.