The Ethiopian Civil Service Commission has announced the upcoming implementation of 18 new directives designed to evaluate public sector employees based on conduct, skills, and service delivery.
The directives, drafted to execute Civil Servants Proclamation No. 1353/2016, mandate that all public servants undergo technical, behavioral, and practical competency assessments to retain their existing positions, secure promotions or transfers, and qualify for future salary increases.
Speaking to Sheger Radio, Ato Mesfin Regassa, a judge at the Civil Service Commission Administrative Tribunal, stated that employees must score a minimum of 70 percent in each of the three assessment categories behavioral, technical, and practical to maintain their positions.
He emphasized that these evaluations move away from subjective impressions and instead rely on scientifically validated metrics measuring teamwork, role modeling, and service ethics.
Public servants who pass the assessments will be issued a competency certificate valid for five years. Meanwhile, employees who fail to reach the 70 percent benchmark will not face immediate dismissal.
Instead, public institutions are legally required to provide targeted training and offer re-examinations every six months. For employees unable to achieve passing marks who choose not to continue, the draft directive includes legal provisions allowing them to resign voluntarily with their full benefits intact.
Addressing criticism alleging that the new evaluation framework aims to initiate mass layoffs, Civil Service Commission Chief Commissioner Mekuria Haile rejected the claims.
He noted that Ethiopia’s current public service workforce stands at just 2.5 million relative to a population of 120 million, underscoring that downsizing is not the policy objective. Rather, the initiative focuses on building capacity to ensure employees can fulfill their assigned responsibilities effectively.
Under the approved draft guidelines, civil servants who score between 90 and 100 percent across all three assessment areas will receive a two-step salary increment, while those scoring between 75 and 90 percent will earn a one-step increase.
The comprehensive directive package also covers human resource planning, salary scale revisions, and allowance implementation, while permitting joint employment arrangements in skill-deficient professions.
