1. DISENGAGEMENT FROM THE SERVICE: PROCEDURAL ISSUES AND GUIDELINES
BY
ONIKE RAHAMAN
INTRODUCTION
Disengagement is described as the process by which an officer is separated or
permanently relieved of his job. It means leaving or quitting the service. When
disengagement from the service is at the instance of a serving officer, it is
usually through either resignation, withdrawal or voluntary retirement.
On the other hand, disengagement may be initiated by the employing
authority as disciplinary action and this is usually culminated into discharge
from the service, termination of appointment, compulsory retirement or
dismissal. A times, an officer may die in active service, in which case, the
deceased nor the employer initiated the exit/disengagement from service. In
instance when the exit was on the ground of death, it is the responsibility of
the employers to initiate the process of paying the family of the deceased, the
entitlements due to him/her.

2. Disengagement from service, no matter the rationale or form it takes, is an
extremely stressful and almost traumatic experience in a man’s life.
Classification of disengagement from service disengagement initiated by an
employee or officer in the civil /public service
(i) RESIGNATION OF APPOINTMENT
An instance when an officer willingly decides to leave the service with prior
notice or payment of salary in lieu of notice. To resign an appointment, is to
give up ones job or position. Depending on the circumstance, an officer may
resign a temporary, probationary and even permanent appointment. Officers
with permanent /confirmed appointments may resign their appointments in
order to pre-empt any unpleasantness that may be visited on them as a result
of their negative activities /misconduct.
Whatever may be the reasons for resignation, an officer is required to give
one/three months notice or pay equal month’s salary in lieu of notice
depending on the condition of service or existing regulation. Specifically,
academic staff in public tertiary institutions are required to give three months
notice. Such an officer is not entitled to gratuity or pension. Under certain
circumstances, an officer who has tendered his/her letter of resignation may
be allowed to withdraw it, before it becomes effective.

3. (ii) WITHDRAWAL FROM SERVICE
Withdrawal means voluntary termination of one’s appointment by an officer in
civil/public service after putting in a minimum of five(5) years into service. Such
service shall normally be continuous and unbroken to the extent that breaks
caused by temporary and brief suspension shall be discharged for the purpose of
computation of qualifying service.
By implication, when an officer withdraws from service he/she is literally “taking
away” or “withdrawing” his service perhaps to another employer. To be able to
withdraw his service, an officer must be on confirmed, permanent and pensionable
appointment. As a rule, the officer must have served for up to five but less than ten
years. By force of the Revised Pension Scheme, this qualifies him for a year’s salary
as gratuity on withdrawal; however, he is not qualified for pension. The amount of
gratuity paid is usually based on the officer’s terminal emoluments and length of
service.
Gratuity differs from pension in that it is paid once, while pension is the sum of
money paid monthly to an officer who has retired from service for whatever
reason. In an academic setting, a member of senior staff may be allowed to
voluntarily withdraw from service if he had served up to a minimum period of ten
(10) years within the public service out of which at least five (5) years must have
been spent in the Institution.

4. Such an employee shall give a three month’s notice of his intention to withdraw
and if approved, he shall be entitled to a gratuity equivalent to his present annual
salary.
(iii) VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT
An officer may decide to retire from civil/public service before attaining the
mandatory age of retirement. An officer may retire voluntarily after putting a
minimum of ten (10) years into the service. However, voluntary retirement may
also be accepted, if the officer has attained the age of 45 years. Retirement
benefits shall be paid to officer proceeding on voluntary retirement according to
guidelines specified in the Pension Reform Act 2004 as applicable.
(iv) MANDATORY RETIREMENT
The statutory limit of retirement age and length of service for all categories of
officers in the civil/public service stand at 60 and 35 years respectively, whichever
comes first. There are procedures guiding retirement from service as contained in
the government policy papers, extant regulations and public service rules.
An exception to this rule applies to academic staff with 65 years for those in the
polytechnics and 70 years for professors in the Universities as retirement age.

5. DISENGAGEMENT INITIATED OR CAUSED BY THE EMPLOYERS
(i) COMPULSORY RETIREMENT
The government or an employer may compulsorily retire an officer on the
grounds of redundancy, medical ground or as a disciplinary action. There are
guidelines for the various forms of compulsory retirement. When an employee
has been declared medically unfit by a Government Medical Officer or has
become incapacitated, impaired or handicapped as a result of accident or
disease, he/she may be asked to proceed on compulsory retirement.
An officer found to be a deadwood, nuisance within the organisation or
abysmally redundant may also be asked to proceed on compulsory retirement.
Of equal importance is the compulsory retirement based on gross misconduct,
criminal liability or infractions of civil service rules and regulations.
(ii) TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT
An officer’s appointment could be terminated when the disengagement of the
person is done at the instance of his employer. Re-organisation, unsatisfactory
performance, gross misconduct and criminal liability could lead to termination
of appointment in both public and civil service.

6. If the appointment terminated is temporary, the officer involved is to be paid a
month’s salary in lieu of notice. In the case of confirmed and pensionable
appointment, the pension rules will apply. Depending on the existing
regulation, three month’s salary (lump sum) is paid in lieu of notice in
terminating the appointment of an officer on permanent appointment.
However, due process needs to be followed before appointment of a officer
could be terminated. A presumption of innocence until reasonable proof is
presented is a right of an employee and this must be ensured before an
officer’s appointment will be accepted as being validly terminated.
(iii) DISCHARGE FROM THE SERVICE
This is another form of punitive measure applicable to only officers on non-
pensionable appointment, if found to be generally unsuitable for further
productive employment e.g contract officers, daily pay/casual labourers etc.
Disengagement officers are not normally entitled to the usual gratuity or
pension benefits.
Discharge may be used as a disciplinary action against an officer who has
committed a serious offence or has a record of repeated violations of rules. It is
also used to remove workers who cannot be utilised effectively in any job

7. If the appointment terminated is temporary, the officer involved is to be paid a
month’s salary in lieu of notice. In the case of confirmed and pensionable
appointment, the pension rules will apply. Depending on the existing
regulation, three month’s salary (lump sum) is paid in lieu of notice in
terminating the appointment of an officer on permanent appointment.
However, due process needs to be followed before appointment of a officer
could be terminated. A presumption of innocence until reasonable proof is
presented is a right of an employee and this must be ensured before an
officer’s appointment will be accepted as being validly terminated.
(iii) DISCHARGE FROM THE SERVICE
This is another form of punitive measure applicable to only officers on non-
pensionable appointment, if found to be generally unsuitable for further
productive employment e.g contract officers, daily pay/casual labourers etc.
Disengagement officers are not normally entitled to the usual gratuity or
pension benefits.
Discharge may be used as a disciplinary action against an officer who has
committed a serious offence or has a record of repeated violations of rules. It is
also used to remove workers who cannot be utilised effectively in any job

8. schedule because of incompetence or inability to perform adequately or to get
along with others. The use of discharge is becoming unpopular in modern day
public/civil service because of restrictions imposed by the Unions and laws in
applying disciplinary discharges by the employers.
(iv) DISMISSAL FROM SERVICE
Dismissal from service is the harshest and most traumatic punishment
applicable in the public/civil service. Offences that can attract dismissal are
official corruption, falsification and suppression of records, conviction on
criminal charges, disclosure of official information without authorization,
action prejudicial to the security of the state, perjury, sexual harassment etc.
Once an officer is dismissed from service, he forfeits all the entitlements due
to him. A dismissed officer cannot be offered appointment in any other
government establishment. If a dismissed officer is accidentally offered an
appointment in the public service, he will be thrown out when it is discovered.
However, fair hearing must be granted an officer before dismissal from service
otherwise the decision becomes contentious in the law court.

9. In essence, an officer shall not be dismissed until he has been given the
opportunity to submit his representation/defence in writing through his/her
Head of Department, and the case been fully investigated and properly
determined by the appropriate Disciplinary Committee. If the officer is not
satisfied with the report and findings of the Disciplinary Committee/
Administrative panel, he should be accorded opportunity to appeal within
reasonable time.