The Governments of the Netherlands Antilles and the Island Territory of St. Maarten held informational sessions with all of it’s civil servants of the current process of decentralizing the tasks of the Netherlands Antilles and gave an update on the process towards Country St. Maarten.
They provided the civil servants with updated information regarding the transfer of tasks, responsibilities and authority from the Central Government to the Island Government, which also included information on the transfer of personnel as well as answering questions regarding the current and the future legal position of the civil servants.
The sessions started on Januray 4th up to January 7th 2010, where the civil servants were seperated in groups as follows:
Date Times Location Departments
Monday, January 4 2.30pm -16.00pm Cultural Center Group A
Wednesday, January 6 9:00am – 10.30am Cultural Center Group B
Wednesday, January 6 11.00am – 12.30pm Cultural Center Group C
Wednesday, January 6 3.00pm – 16.30pm Cultural Center Group D
Thursday, January 7 9.00am – 10.30am Cultural Center Group E
Thursday, January 7 11.00am – 12.30pm Cultural Center Group F
Group A: Directors and Department Heads (Central and Island)
Group B: Sector E&T
Sector ROB
Central Government workers for Ministry of TEZVT
Dept. Directorate Labor Affairs
Group C: Directorate Support
Sector Education
Central Government workers for: Ministry of OCJS, Courthouse, Court of Guardianship,
Prosecutor’s Office
Group D: Central Government workers: Police, Coastguard, Prison, Immigration, Douane
Group E: Central Government workers: Police, Coastguard, Prison, Immigration, Douane
Group F: Directorate Resources
SectorVSA
Island secretary office
KabGezag
DPP
Staff Commissioners
Central Government workers for: Inspectorate of Taxes, Receivers Office, Directorate of Finance.
The following is the Presentation made by Minister Roland Duncan:
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
Roland E. Duncan
Minister of Constitutional and Home Affairs
January, 2010
The Road Ahead
10, 10 of 2010
Phased dismantling
The objectives
The Transfer of tasks/responsibilities
The Transfer of personnel
Getting files updated
Responding to the concerns of the public servant
The Road Ahead
10, 10 of 2010 Transition date
Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become country;
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba will become part of Holland;
Provision in case Curaçao or Sint Maarten is not ready to comply with all requirements.
Phased dismantling
Legal basis given by ‘Overgangsregeling Decentralisatie Nederlandse Antillen’
Transferring possible as per 1, 1 of 2010;
The gradual dismantling of the Neth. Ant.;
Support the process of Curaçao and Sint Maarten becoming Countries;
Possibility to begin transfer of tasks/ responsibilities, with exception of ………….
Duties and authorities that due to laws of higher order can only be performed by the Netherlands Antilles;
Common Court of Justice;
Law of Procedure, Family Law and Civil Law.
About the transfer of Personnel
Political consultation of 08.12.07 All public servants would simultaneously be transferred on transition date;
But, the Political Steering Group of 22.05.08 decided to accelerate the transferring of duties and responsibilities;
Naturally, every public servant is to "follow" his/her current task/duties;
Personnel executing tasks/duties that are not to be transferred, will not be placed at disposition of the Island Territory.
Status of Civil Servants during dismantling process
Current civil servants will remain in service of the Central Government and will keep performing his/her current duties/responsibilities;
Labor conditions not to be changed after transfer of task/duty;
The ‘disposition’ will end at the moment a person is not a civil servant of the Central Government any more;
The civil servant placed at disposition of an Island Territory will continue being protected by the legislation for civil servants;
The guarantees agreed upon during the political consultation held on 08.12.07 are not valid for personnel that at that moment were not in service of the Central Government.
Transfer at transition date
Employment of all civil servants by the new entity, country St. Maarten, on transition date (10.10.10) will be governed by the ‘Social Charter’.
The Social Charter
A responsibility of Island Territories
Content as agreed upon during political consultation of 08.12.07:
Validity;
Guarantees regarding the legal position;
Placement procedure;
All qualifying civil servants will be offered a function in the new entity at least three months before transition;
Grievance procedure;
Education, training, and development
Conferring with regard to employee representatives.
Updating personnel files…..
Formalize (legally establish) the legal position of the federal civil servants
Finalize pending requests;
Establishing of legal position through function comparison;
Formalization of legal position: started and to be concluded 4 months before transition date.
Responding to concerns of civil servants…..
Do I have job security?
Will I get the pending promotion?
Will I retain all my primary and secondary benefits?
What will happen with my pension?
Will I have possibilities to continue furthering my career?
Do I have job security?
During transitional period
The civil servant placed at disposition of an Island Territory will remain in service of the Central Government and will continue being protected by the current legislation for civil servants;
During the transitional period, the civil servant will keep performing his/her current duties/responsibilities.
After transitional date
According to the agreement of 08.12.07: the legal position of civil servants as a whole is guaranteed;
The guarantees agreed upon during the political consultation held on 08.12.07 are valid for personnel that were in service of the Central Government at that moment.
Will I get the pending promotion?
During transitional period
Yes
The legal position will remain the same after transfer of task/duty. Pending matters pertaining to legal position will be attended.
After transitional date
Yes
According to the agreement of 08.12.07, all pending matters pertaining to legal position will be recognized.
Will I retain all my primary and secondary benefits?
During transitional period
During the transitional period, all labor conditions and benefits will remain unchanged.
After transitional date
According to the agreement of 08.12.07 the current legal position as a whole of civil servants is guaranteed.
What will happen with my pension?
During transitional period
Your pension is a part of your secondary benefits; thus, will remain unchanged during the transitional period.
After transitional date
Discussions are ongoing regarding the administration and control of the pension fund.
Will I have possibilities to continue furthering my career?
During transitional period
The possibilities to develop and grow in your career depends on your initiatives and capacities.
After transitional date
The possibilities to develop and grow in your career depends on your initiatives and capacities.
Further information…….
General information regarding dismantling:
Dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles
Roland E. Duncan
Minister of Constitutional and Home Affairs
January, 2010