The Department of Correctional Services has suspended with immediate effect six professional nurses at Malmesbury Correctional Centre in the Western Cape region following their refusal to work flexible hours in line with the newly introduced 7 day establishment. The department has redeployed some of the professional nurses from among other Correctional Centres to Malmesbury to beef up the remaining three nurses and to ensure uninterrupted delivery of services.
Only Malmesbury is affected by the protest action in the Western Cape region that has a total of 163 professional nurses. All nurses in the Western Cape have embraced the new shift system.
The department wishes to warn anyone seeking to make the new working system unworkable against such illegal actions. The 7 day working week is aimed at enhancing service delivery in line with the White Paper on Corrections. It will help ensure effective implementation of a structured day programme for all offenders, while also doing away with unsustainable overtime payments that had reached a massive R1,3 billion per annum.
The Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) for nurses, as agreed upon by government and public sector unions representing nurses, requires nurses to work a 40 hour work week. In line with the principles of the 7 day work week Correctional Services schedules nurses to work shifts cover Saturdays and Sundays without exceeding the prescribed 40 hour work week as outlined in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the determination on working time in the public services.
Enquiries:
Manelisi Wolela
Cell: 083 626 0304
Ofentse Morwane
Cell: 079 501 0272
Issued by: Department of Correctional Services
7 August 2009
Source: Department of Correctional Services (http://www.dcs.gov.za/)
