The restructuring of the Personnel Department, which flowed from the second phase of the Support Services Development Project (SSDP II) that kicked off in July 2000, took another step forward on 1 July 2001 when Mr Francois Vorster was appointed as the first General Manager: Human Resources. On the same date, the Department was officially renamed the Department of Human Resources. As part of the restructuring process, a number of managerial posts were advertised, to be filled in 2002.

The implementation of decentralisation saw the transfer of a number of human resource personnel to the Facilities . The decentralisation of the human resource function has now been successfully completed in all but the Faculty of Health Sciences, whose human resources are still being managed centrally.

A new remuneration system was implemented on 1 April 2001. The system takes a package approach to remuneration, which is inclusive of all benefits apart from the Council contributions to the medical aid fund. It will now be possible to make remuneration packages more tax friendly and more responsive to individual requirements within the stipulations of the South African Revenue Services.

At the same time, phasing out of the housing subsidy system started and a housing allowance, incorporated into the basic salary package, was instituted. As a result of this, some 50% of the University's permanent staff members started receiving financial assistance for the first time.

Personnel structure

At the end of the year under review, the University's personnel structure comprised the following posts (excluding joint posts with the Gauteng Provincial Government):

Post structure as at 31 December 2001

Employment Equity

The University's first formal Employment Equity (EE) Plan, developed in 2000, set targets to be achieved by 2003 with regard to its employee profile and human resource practices. The following broad approach was adopted in 2001:
· The Executive Management pursued its numerical EE targets in order to set an example to line managers at all levels.
· Line managers were requested to treat all new vacancies as opportunities to increase the diversity of the workforce. To create a positive atmosphere that would support these efforts, members of staff were reassured that retrenchments would not be used to make room for the appointment of persons from designated groups (i.e. black1 persons, women and disabled persons).
· During the roll-out of the University's first formal performance management system, meeting EE targets was made a key performance area for all line managers. The shift to a more decentralised management model makes it easier to place the responsibility for EE with line managers.
· Strategies to make recruitment and selection processes more EE effective were prioritised in 2001, as this is the area in which most barriers to EE were identified.
- A one-day course was designed to enhance the competencies of existing members of recruitment and selection committees and to increase their effectiveness in terms of the EE Act. Since the start of the three-year EE Planning cycle, approximately 130 committee members have been trained. In future, this training will be integrated into the University Skills Development Plan and will continue to be offered on a needs basis.
- Since the lack of diversity in recruitment and selection committees is a potential source of unfair discrimination, a core of black staff members drawn from a range of job levels was selected to attend a two-day version of the above course to prepare them to serve on these committees. The two-day course places greater emphasis on the acquisition of basic recruitment and selection skills, but still within the context of EE legislation. A core group of 34 black staff members has already received training. This course will also be offered regularly in terms of the University Skills Development Plan.
- Human resource officers also attended the above course to improve their capacity to assist line managers with recruitment and selection.
- Two working groups began the process of integrating EE considerations into mainstream recruitment and selection policy and procedure documents for academic and support staff respectively.
- Media mixes for job advertisements were adjusted to include those with high readership by designated groups. All job advertisements now include the sentence: "The University of Pretoria is committed to equality, employment equity and diversity."
· A programme was established to develop students from designated groups (DGs) for possible future employment at the University. Known as the PUNIV Personnel Development Programme (PDP), it identifies academically outstanding postgraduate students from all the DGs who have the potential to become members of the academic or support staff. In terms of reciprocal agreements the University provides comprehensive bursaries for full-time study, holiday work, mentoring and development programmes and in return has the right to require the students who have benefited to work at the University for a period upon completion of their postgraduate degrees.
Altogether 47 bursaries were approved in 2001 - 16 for black males, 22 for black females and nine for white females. Eight were for honours candidates, 24 for masters' candidates and 15 for doctoral candidates.
Thirty of these offers were actually taken up in 2001 - 12 by black males, 14 by black females and four by white females. Of these, four were for honours degrees, 17 for masters' degrees and nine for doctoral degrees. Total expenditure on PUNIV PDP bursaries in 2001 was just short of R1 million.
· Since natural attrition does not create enough EE opportunities, a parallel and supplementary strategy is also employed, namely the creation of diversity posts, funded from PUNIV Support Funds. PUNIV Support Funds were established from reserves some years ago to provide bursaries and loans for disadvantaged black students and to fund the appointment of black staff who could not in the short term be accommodated in the normal post structure. Line managers may apply for diversity posts via the Diversity Creation Committee, on which all Vice-Principals serve. Diversity posts are no different from other posts at the University except in respect of their funding source. The holders of diversity posts are appointed into the normal faculty structures as soon as possible.

PUNIV Support Funds have recently been restructured so that they can be more effectively utilised in support of the University EE Plan.

For the period 1 January to 31 December 2001, the Diversity Creation Committee approved a total of 33 posts. Twenty-two of these offers were accepted, nine were declined and two are still pending because work permits have not yet been granted. Of the 22 posts accepted, 18 are academic posts and four are posts in the support services. All posts are for black appointees.

· A range of projects was initiated to make the physical facilities on the campus more accessible to disabled persons.
As a result of this broad approach, the University made considerable progress towards achieving its EE targets for 2003 in 2001. In some occupational categories, notably those for senior officials and managers, the progress was very good. In this occupational category, the EE target for 2003 for African males was exceeded in 2001, and the University very nearly reached the target for white females.

Much more difficulty was experienced in the professional occupational category. This is understandable given the competition for these scarce resources. Specific attention will be paid to this category in the next two years.

Progress in some of the other occupational categories and levels got off to a slow start, as might be expected of such a major change initiative. However, given the increased representation of DGs at senior levels, and given that several enabling structures and initiatives are now operational, the pace of change is expected to accelerate.

Performance management

The implementation of the performance management system is a strategic focus of the University. The project is managed in phases. The first phase entailed contracting work outputs between managers and staff. This process has already been completed in several Facilities and support service departments. Performance evaluation was also done during the year and managers held functioning and feedback talks with staff. In the process, training needs were identified. Several members of staff have already attended training programmes. One of the main goals will be to complete a cycle of contracting and evaluation, with a view to calibrating standards that will serve as a basis for eventually linking remuneration to work performance.

Personnel development

Highlights in personnel development include the following:

· The Workplace Training Report was approved in May.
· The Workplace Skills Plan for 2001 was approved in August.
· The University received a rebate of approximately R1 million from the Education Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA.
· An agreement was reached with the campus enterprise, Continuing Education at University of Pretoria (Pty) Ltd (CE at UP), to provide priority training programmes for University staff.
· A new human resources development policy was formulated and submitted for consideration and ratification.
· A total of 31 staff members passed the Independent Examination Board (IEB) Basic Adult Learning Examination during 2001.

In line with the University's EE plan, a special attempt was made to create training and developmental opportunities for staff members from the DGs.

Labour relations

The University has recognition with four trade unions, namely: the University of Pretoria Workers' Union (UPWO); the University of Pretoria Personnel Association (UPP); the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU); and the Mineworkers Union (MWU-Solidarity) - formerly the South African Workers' Union (SAWU). These agreements continued to provide a strong foundation for healthy labour relationships and participatory management in 2001. The recognition agreement with NEHAWU, according to which the Union's bargaining powers are restricted to C3-personnel, was amended at the end of 2001, following extensive negotiations and NEHAWU has now obtained the right to negotiate on behalf of all its members, irrespective of the personnel category to which they belong at the University.

With regard to NEHAWU, the court case arising from the retrenchment of staff in 1998 due to the outsourcing of certain support functions tended to dominate the labour relations arena.

A fifth personnel organisation, the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW), received limited rights on the campus for the year under review. Their steady growth in membership gained momentum at the end of the year.

Approximately 70% of the permanent workforce in 2001 belonged to a trade union with membership remaining more or less constant over the past 12 months. The remuneration restructuring project was negotiated with all the recognised trade unions and agreements in this regard have been entered into with UPWO, UPP and MWU-Solidarity. Negotiations with NEHAWU in this regard will continue in 2002.

The court case regarding the funding level of the Pension Fund for Associated Institutions (PFAI) after the withdrawal from the PFAI and the shift to the UP Retirement Funds on 1 January 1995, has not yet been concluded.

Personnel support

The Personnel Support and Career Centre (PSCC) continued with its mission to satisfy the needs of staff looking for a better quality of working life. The Centre has offered rehabilitation and counselling to staff in several areas. As a role player and agent of change, the Centre was involved in facilitating the careers of personnel and enabled personnel to experience and utilise problems in their work and external environment as opportunities.

The proactive, supportive role of the Centre daily enables a significant number of staff members to meet the demands of an ever-changing environment and aspire to attaining balance in all the facets of their lives.

Occupational safety

It is the official policy of the University to protect its employees, students, visitors and property by maintaining an excellent health and safety programme. The following principles are vitally important in carrying out this policy:

· The University is responsible for designing and maintaining practical and implementable health and safety standards.
· Safety training must form part of routine employee training.
· Every staff member and student is responsible for adhering to the Health and Safety Policy.
· Employees' interest in their own safety and that of their colleagues should be constantly cultivated through awareness campaigns.
· The University, its employees and students are committed to the elimination of all unhealthy and unsafe actions and work procedures.
· The University must ensure full compliance to all relevant legal and statutory regulations.