ELRC 202324 Annual Report

EDUCATION LABOUR RELATIONS COUNCIL | 2023/24 ANNUAL REPORT

7. ACCOUNTING OFFICER’S OVERVIEW It gives me great pleasure to present the Council’s Annual Report and achievements for the financial year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The Council recorded an overall performance of 97% during the period under review. Noteworthy achievements were attained concerning the Council’s core operations, Dispute Management Services (DMS) and Collective Bargaining Services. At provincial level, five Chambers recorded 100%, this achievement is consistent with the performance recorded in the 2022/23 financial year. The support services component achieved an exemplary record of 100% for all units during the period under review.

In line with our objective to provide efficient dispute resolution services, the Council continued to employ pre-emptive measures to deal with disputes; this includes the dispute prevention committees at provincial level, which continue to contribute to the reduction of disputes on alleged unfair dismissals as well as appointment and promotion disputes. In attempting to provide continuous training for Dispute Resolution Practitioners (DRPs), six training sessions were conducted on Collective Agreement No 3 of 2018, from August 2023 to March 2024. In its quest to protect the rights of the child, the Council conducted training for panellists on maintaining consistency in dealing with misconduct cases, managing hearsay evidence in cases involving minors, addressing damages arising from sexual assault cases, and providing guidelines on ULP-Promotion and PILIR cases. The training of DRPs improved the Council’s efficiency in terms of the quality of the outcomes, arbitration awards, settlement agreements, and rulings rendered. Concerning Collective Bargaining Services, Parties to Council demonstrated their commitment to improving education in the public education sector, through the finalisation of two national and two provincial collective agreements. A key focus for the period under review was implementing the Quality Management System (QMS). A QMS colloquium was held to address the challenges identified regarding implementing Collective Agreement No 2 of 2020: “Quality Management System (QMS) for School-Based Educators”. Emanating from the colloquium, refresher training was conducted and concluded by the end of the 2023/24 financial year. The Council recognises that employees are the most valuable assets of any organisation. For this reason, staff wellness programmes were conducted during the period under review to enhance staff morale and encourage a healthy work-life balance. During the period under review, the primary focus was placed on team-building sessions that promote physical fitness. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is an integral support service of the Council. It safeguards the ELRC’s business information and ensures that services are uninterrupted. ICT controls were strengthened during the period under review. This includes regular disaster recovery testing and server health checks. The Office of the General Secretary continues to strengthen financial management, including reviewing and updating the business policies and standard operating procedures. These are anticipated to improve the internal control environment. Significant effort has been invested in ensuring that financial risks are effectively managed, delivering services on time, and in line with the budget, and with all oversight controls in place and rigorously operating.

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