AP Contract Employees Remuneration in Min Time Scale Maternity Leave Ex-gratia GO 40

AP Contract Employees Remuneration in Min Time Scale Maternity Leave Ex-gratia GO 40 Comprehensive Orders. G.O.MS.No. 40 Dated: 18-06-2021  Payment of Minimum of Time Scale(MTS) in Revised Pay Scales 2015 to the Contractual employees engaged in the Government Departments, Universities, Societies, KGVB and Model Schools:   Maternity Leave for women employees engaged on contractual basis: Ex-gratia of Rs.5.00 lakhs (Rupees five lakhs only) shall be provided for accidental death and Rs.2.00 lakhs (Rupees two lakhs only) for natural death to the legal heir of the deceased Contract employees, who die in harness, while in service, duly following the following procedure.

AP Contract Employees Remuneration in Min Time Scale Maternity Leave Ex-gratia GO 40

Finance Department – Contract Employment - Remuneration & Other Benefits Comprehensive orders – Issued. FINANCE (HR-I Plg. & Policy) DEPARTMENT

G.O.MS.No. 40 Dated: 18-06-2021 
 Read the following:
1. G.O.Ms.No.94, General Administration (Ser.A) Department, Dt.28.03.2003. 
2. G.O.Ms.No.12, Finance (HR.I-Plg. & Policy) Department, Dt.28-01-2019. 
3. G.O.Ms.No.24, Finance (HR.I-Plg. & Policy) Department, Dt.18-02-2019. 
4. G.O.Ms.No.17, Finance (HR.I-Plg & Policy) Department, Dt.31.01.2019.
5. G.O.Ms.No.25, Finance (HR.I-Plg & Policy) Department, Dt.18.02.2019. ***

ORDER :
Human resources are critical for the grounding & execution of the manifold schemes of the Government & for translating ideas & plans into tangible results. An efficient system & planned calendar for recruitment is sine qua non for the onboarding & deployment of qualified workforce & ensuring their availability to the various Departments. The Government is currently taking significant steps in this direction and for the streamlining of the existing system.
2. However, in the past, due to the lack of adequate focus & planning in the recruitment and deployment of qualified personnel, to meet demand for augmenting the professional workforce, the Government has issued the orders in G.O. 1st read above, introducing the system of contract employment. Several successive recruitments have been made by various Departments to meet the requirement of the workload using the newly introduced contractual system & it is observed that the recruitments have been made both in conformity & in deviation with the procedure governing contract employment.

3. The Government have examined the terms and conditions of the persons who have been engaged by method of contractual employment in the past & it is observed that the remuneration and the other benefits provided are governed by the following orders.

  1. I. G.O.Ms.No.12, Finance (HR.I-Plg. & Policy) Department, dated 28-01-2019: In this G.O. orders were issued providing the Minimum of Time Scale to contract employees working in Government Departments in the Revised Pay Scales, 2015. This order is with effect from 01.04.2019.
  2. II. G.O.Ms.No.24, Finance (HR.I-Plg. & Policy) Department, dated 18-02-2019: In this G.O. orders were issued providing the Minimum of Time Scale to the contract employees working in Universities, Societies, KGBV and Model Schools in the Revised Pay Scales, 2015. This order is with effect from 01.04.2019.
  3. III. G.O.Ms.No.17, Finance (HR.I-Plg & Policy) Department, dated 31.01.2019: In this G.O. orders were issued sanctioning 180 days of paid maternity leave to the married women contract or outsourcing employees for their first two deliveries. This order is with effect from 01.04.2019.
  4. IV. G.O.Ms.No.25, Finance (HR.I-Plg & Policy) Department, dated 18.02.2019: In this G.O. orders were issued sanctioning an ex-gratia of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs only) for accidental death & Rs.2,00,000/- (Rupees Two Lakhs only) in case of natural death, to the legal heir of the deceased contract or outsourcing employee. This order is with effect from 01.04.2019.
4. The orders mentioned above, extending the various benefits to the contract employees, were issued on various dates in the months of January & February of 2019. However, the effective date for the implementation is w.e.f. 1-4-2019 in all the orders.

5. The estimated additional outgo resulting from the implementation of the above orders, amounting to approximately Rs 30.4 crore (Rupees Thirty crores and forty lakhs) per month and Rs 365 crore (Rupees Three Hundred & Sixty-Five crore) on an annual basis, has occurred only subsequent to 01-04-2019.

6. It is also observed that the mentioning of the eligible remuneration & the other benefits to the contract employees in different G.O.s is giving rise to ambiguity and lack of clarity among the employees, the drawing & disbursing officers and the audit authorities & is causing unnecessary delay & in some cases deprivation of the intended benefits.

7. Government after careful consideration of the entire matter & keeping the welfare of the contract employees in perspective, have decided to issue the following comprehensive orders, in supersession of all the orders issued earlier, regarding the remuneration & other benefits to be paid to the persons who have been appointed on contract appointment in terms of the instructions issued in the G.O. 1st cited, and as mentioned hereunder:
A. Payment of Minimum of Time Scale(MTS) in Revised Pay Scales 2015 to the Contractual employees engaged in the Government Departments, Universities, Societies, KGVB and Model Schools: 
The Minimum of Time Scale (MTS) shall be paid to the contractual employees working in various Government Departments, Universities, Societies, KGVB and Model Schools in the Revised Pay Scales, 2015 of the relevant posts, in which the employees are working. The remuneration (minimum of time scale in RPS 2015) to the contractual employees shall be governed by the following conditions:

a) The remuneration extended shall form an all-inclusive consolidated monthly payment for all purposes.
  • b) No other allowances shall be paid.
  • c) No other increase in any form like annual grade increments, etc., shall be admissible on the above consolidated monthly remuneration equivalent to the Minimum of Time Scale in RPS, 2015.
  • d) The extension of minimum of time scale is applicable to those contractual employees who have been appointed against vacant sanctioned posts and for those who have been appointed by the specific Government orders have been issued with the concurrence of Government in Finance department.
  • e) No further recruitment shall be made on contractual basis without prior approval of the Government in Finance Department. For any appointment in deviation, disciplinary proceedings shall be initiated against the appointing authorities and severe penalties under A.P. C.C.A. Rules, 1991, will be initiated and the appointments made irregularly shall be cancelled. The salary bills of such irregular appointees shall not be admitted in the audit.
  • f) The departments shall pay utmost attention to the conditions as referred to above, while extending the remuneration (minimum of time scale in RPS 2015) to the personnel working on contractual basis under their administrative control.
  • g) These orders shall not apply to the Consultants/Advisors/ OSDs and those appointed on specific consolidated pay, working on contractual basis in Government Departments. 
  • h) These orders shall not apply to the employees working on outsourcing basis.

B. Maternity Leave for women employees engaged on contractual basis: 

Married women employees engaged on contractual basis in Government Departments, Universities, Societies, KGVB and Model Schools shall be eligible for 180 days of paid maternity leave for the first two child births. This condition is relaxed in cases of employees having less than two surviving children. The paid maternity leave benefit shall be equivalent to the existing remuneration drawn by the above women employees. The statutory benefits such as EPF & ESI and other recoveries wherever applicable, shall also be admissible by treating them as being “on duty”.

C. Sanction of Ex-gratia to the contract employees: 
Ex-gratia of Rs.5.00 lakhs (Rupees five lakhs only) shall be provided for accidental death and Rs.2.00 lakhs (Rupees two lakhs only) for natural death to the legal heir of the deceased Contract employees, who die in harness, while in service, duly following the following procedure.
  • a) The application seeking ex-gratia shall be submitted by the Legal heir of the concerned deceased Contract employees with in a period of three (3) months from the date of demise to the unit/head of the office concerned.
  • b) After receipt of the application for sanction of Ex-gratia from the Legal heir, the Administrative Officer/Drawing and Disbursing Officer concerned has to conduct personal enquiry in the matter within fifteen (15) days and confirm the death.
  • c) The A.O./D.D.O., after thorough enquiry shall submit report to the unit/head of the office, confirming the death and recommends for sanction of Ex-gratia.
  • d) After receipt of the enquiry report, the Unit/Head of the Office may sanction the Ex-gratia of Rs.5.00 lakhs in cases of accidental death and Rs.2.00 lakhs in case of natural death, as the case may be.
8. All the Secretariat Departments & the Heads of Departments shall take further necessary action in the matter accordingly.