A public servant with a family member suffering from measles can now take special leave with pay.

The Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) has approved the leave in principle, according to a document sighted by the Samoa Observer.

This is on the understanding that he or she returns to work with a medical report as proof of his or her family’s measles infection. 

The Commission has warned that any officer found to have provided false information under the provisions of the special leave will be subject to disciplinary action.

The notice of the special leave was relayed to all public servants in an email sent out on Monday, November 25 by the Assistant C.E.O., Eleline Lafi-Simamao, who heads the Commission’s Public Service Performance and Policy Division.

“The Commission has approved in principle Special Leave WITH PAY to also cover public servants who are attending or caring for an affected family member,” the email reads.

“However, these public servants are subject to the following conditions: upon returning to work, a medical certificate/report to be provided as proof of the affected family member who contracted the measles. Any public servant who deliberately provides false information or intentionally lies to use special WITH PAY shall be subject to disciplinary action.”

Comment is being sought from the Public Service Commission. 

The public servants’ special leave – which specifically caters for the measles epidemic that has engulfed the country and has so far resulted in 25 dead – follows on State of Emergency orders issued by the Samoa government last week that barred pregnant women from going to work (in both the public and private sectors), unless the women were vaccinated prior to their pregnancies. Women who were unsure of their vaccination status are also barred from entering their place of formal employment.