The Civil Service Ministry has announced that, with the exception of nurses, civil servants will no longer be permitted to accumulate time-off or overtime hours. In a circular issued on July 26, Permanent Secretary Parmesh Chand indicated that all time-off for civil servants below Band E must now be approved beforehand.
Chand clarified that for employees in Band E and lower, overtime previously taken as time-off in lieu (TOIL) will now be compensated on an hour-for-hour basis or can be used at the discretion of the permanent secretaries. This measure ensures that civil servants do not forfeit their accrued TOIL hours.
Furthermore, he stated that employees in Band F and above, excluding nurses, will not receive any compensation for TOIL. Permanent secretaries have been urged to encourage these employees to utilize their owed time-off.
Effective July 29, 2024, the Public Service Commission has decided that no new accruals or cases of TOIL will be allowed for Band F and higher staff (again, excluding nurses). Additionally, ministries have been informed that no extra funds will be allocated for this purpose, requiring all overtime compensation to be managed within their existing budgets.