THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental is creating a department for human resource management that will include functions mainly on centralization of payroll processing.
The Provincial Board, during its regular session on June 28, approved an ordinance providing the restructuring of the organizational structure and
staffing pattern of the Provincial Human Resource Management Office (HRMO).
Second district Board Member Salvador Escalante Jr., chairman of the committee on finance, budget, and appropriations, said the governor is pushing for the creation of HRM Department given the Capitol’s large operation.
“Unlike before that the payroll preparation is being done per office or department, it will now be centralized under the HRM Department,” Escalante said, adding that the creation of the latter, which will start functioning next year, is part of the Provincial Government’s reorganization measure.
Under the approved ordinance, the Province will regularize 15 contractual employees to augment the existing 23 plantilla workers at the HRMO.
In terms of budget requirement, the Province needs an additional fund of almost P6.2 million for the restructuring. It will be included in the province’s 2018 annual budget, specifically under Personal Services (PS) fund.
Of about 3,300 available permanent positions, only 1,800 were filled up thus, there are still about 1,500 vacancies.
Escalante said that of the 772 contractual employees, 106 were already regularized. They will form part of about 400 workers targeted to have regular positions this year.
All contractual employees are already part of the 45 percent budget cap of the province thus, “absorbing them as regular employees will result to additional savings and positive adjustments on the ceiling,” Escalante said.
Also, the restructuring will not affect the additional salary of the existing employees or result to layoff of workers, he added.
The Provincial Government is also eyeing to create another structure that will focus on the impending development of the Southern Negros Estate Authority in Barangay Bacuyangan, Hinoba-an town.
Escalante said there is a need for an office to supervise the share of the province in its venture with Japanese firm Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Inc. for the construction of a shipbuilding facility in Hinoba-an.
“We might pass another ordinance for this, most probably within the year,” he added.