1. Collective Agreement No. 3 of 2017 (attached) was concluded in the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) on 18 October 2017. The purpose of this agreement is to provide a revised framework for managing the performance and development of office-based educators.

2. The agreement applies to and is binding on the employer (the Western Cape Education Department (WCED)) and all office-based educators, as defined in the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act 76 of 1998), as amended, whether such educators are members of trade unions that are parties to this agreement or not.

3. The Education Management Service: Performance Management and Development System (EMS: PMDS) replaces the Performance Management and Development Scheme (PMDS) for office-based educators, as contained in Collective Agreement No. 3 of 2002.

4. Some of the main differences between the PMDS and EMS: PMDS are highlighted below:

PMDS (CA 3 of 2002) EMS: PMDS (CA 3 of 2017)
Job Description and Work Plan Job Description and Performance Agreement
Key Objectives Key Result Areas (KRAs)
Capabilities Core Management Criteria (CMCs)
Work Plan: Key Objectives (50%) + Capabilities (50%) = 100% KRAs (70%) + CMCs (30%) = 100%
Calculator used to determine final score
Quarterly reviews and annual performance assessment Formal mid-year and annual performance assessment (second + fourth quarter)
Informal reviews (first + third quarter)
5. Key features of the EMS: PMDS
5.1 A Performance Agreement (PA) is the cornerstone of performance management at individual level.
5.2 All employees are required to enter into and sign a PA with their immediate supervisor, within one month after the start of the new cycle, i.e. 01 April 2018.
5.3 The PA must include the following:
5.3.1 Employee data (Persal number, job title and salary level) as well as a clear job description for the employee, with emphasis on the main objectives, job purpose and the relevant KRAs and CMCs.
5.3.2 A Work Plan containing the KRAs, outputs, activities and resource requirements.
5.3.3 A Personal Development Plan (PDP) that identifies the competence and other developmental needs of the employee, as well as methods to improve these.
5.4 Elements of a Work Plan
5.4.1 Key Result Areas (KRAs) describe what is expected from an employee in terms of his/her job description and focus attention on actions and activities that will assist components and the WCED in performing effectively.

  1. Each KRA should be broken down into measurable outputs and/or duties/responsibilities and activities.

  2. Each KRA should be weighted (in %) according to the importance it has in the employee’s job.

  3. The weighting of all KRAs should add up to 100%.

  4. No individual KRA may be given a weighting of less than 5% or more than 20%.

  5. Weightings should be in multiples of five.
5.4.2 Core Management Criteria (CMCs) describe elements and standards used to assess performance.

  1. CMCs are used to calculate 30% of the employee’s assessment score.

  2. There are seven compulsory CMCs.

  3. 60% of the weighting is prescribed for four of the seven CMCs as follows:
    i)
    ii)
    iii)
    iv)     		Job knowledge and application
    Leadership abilities
    Interpersonal relationships
    Service to stakeholders    		 (20%)
    (20%)
    (10%)
    (10%)

  4. 40% of the weighting prescribed for each of the remaining three CMCs below must be agreed to by the supervisor and employee:
    i)
    ii)
    iii)    		 Communication
    Acceptance of responsibility
    Conceptual and analytical skills
5.4.3 In calculating the final assessment score, each employee must be assessed against both KRAs (70%) and CMCs (30%).

6. Performance review and assessment cycle

April–June First review with oral feedback if the employee’s performance is rated as "competent" or above. If rated as "performance needs to improve" or "unsatisfactory performance" then feedback must be in writing.
July–September Second review and constitutes a "midterm review" and is done in writing, signed by both parties.
October–December Third review with oral feedback if performance is rated as "competent" or above. If rated as "performance needs to improve" or "unsatisfactory performance" then feedback must be in writing.
January–March This is the period of the final assessment and constitutes an "annual performance assessment". Feedback must be in writing, total of KRAs (70%) and CMCs (30%).

7. Ratings

The performance review and annual assessment of employees will be based on the following ratings:

Rating Category Description
1 Unsatisfactory performance Performance does not meet the standards expected for the job.
2 Performance needs to improve Performance meets some of the standards expected for the job.
3 Competent Performance meets the standards expected in all areas of the job.
4 Good performance Performance is significantly higher than the standards expected in the job.
5 Excellent performance Performance far exceeds the standards expected of an employee at this level.

8. Moderation
8.1 The purpose of moderation is to ensure, as far as possible, that supervisors are evaluating performance in an equitable and consistent manner across the WCED, with a common understanding of the standards required at each level of the rating scale.
8.2 A provincial moderation committee must be established by the Head of Department in consultation with senior management.
8.3 A sub-committee at district level must be established by the district director.
8.4 These committees must be structured as follows:

Structure Composition of Moderation Committees
Provincial level Head of Human Resource Management (Chairperson)
Two representatives from senior management
PMDS coordinator
District level District Director (Chairperson)
Two representatives from district management team
PMDS coordinator
8.5 Moderation Committee meetings must be held at least twice per performance cycle as follows:

  1. At the start of the new cycle to monitor the results of performance planning and agreement activities to ensure compliance and detect potential problems in the system.

  2. At the end of the performance cycle to review and moderate the overall assessment results to ensure consistency.
9. The basis for decisions on rewards and other measures that require certain levels of performance shall be the applicable regulations in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Act 103 of 1994), as amended.

10. Training for office-based educators and their supervisors will be arranged and timeously communicated in preparation for the 2018/2019 EMS: PMDS performance cycle of 01 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

11. Kindly bring the contents of this minute to the attention of all staff under your supervision.


SIGNED: LJ ELY
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: CORPORATE SERVICES
DATE: 2018:03:20

Collective Agreement No. 3 of 2017  (size: 1 418 KB)
Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act 76 of 1998)  (size: 160 KB)
Public Service Act, 1994 (Act 103 of 1994)  (size: 183 KB)