Employees of statutory bodies can now head them

The Star

SEREMBAN: Employees in statutory bodies like the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and the Social Security Organisation (Socso) can now be appointed as chief executives of the same agency, said Public Service director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam.

Previously, deputy chief executives in these bodies could not be promoted permanently to the post.

“We want to improve the method of filling the post of the chief executive. From now on, we will allow employees in the same organisation to be promoted,” Ismail said in a circular.

Some of the bigger statutory bodies in the country include the EPF, Socso, the Pilgrims Management Fund Board, Mara, Armed Forces Superannuation Fund and Bank Simpanan Nasional.

The ruling takes effect immediately.

Ismail said previously, there were three ways to fill the top post in the statutory bodies. These were:

·Officers from the same agency were allowed to fill the post but on a temporary basis;

·Officers from other government agencies were sent on attachment; and

·Government retirees or individuals from the private sector were offered the post on a contract basis.

“But those promoted from the same agency now must fulfil the necessary requirements to be considered.

“If the individual has yet to fill certain conditions for promotion, he or she can still fill the post on an acting basis,” he said.

There are 75 federal and 110 state statutory bodies, employing 94,623 and 14,195 people respectively.