The civil service union Cuepacs today called on the government to consider giving grade promotion to retiring officers without requiring them to pass the Competency Level Assessment (PTK) examination.

Its president Omar Osman said they should instead be assessed based on performance and productivity throughout their career.

civil servants 090904"Those who are retiring in three years would find it difficult to sit for the examination. They should be exempted," he told reporters in Kuantan.

Omar said Cuepacs had forwarded the request to the Public Services Department for consideration.

Meanwhile, he said, Cuepacs was finalising its proposal to increase the maximum salary scale for civil servants.

This would help about 45 percent of 1.2 million civil servants who had reached their maximum salary scales, he said.

"Some of them reached their maximum salary scales very early in their career and they still have 10 or 15 years more of service. This will certainly affect their performance," he said.

- Bernama