| (1) | The Commission may after pre-assessment decide to— |
| (a) | close the grievance without any further investigation; |
| (b) | resolve the grievance through mediation; |
| (c) | investigate the grievance and subject it to deliberations before a Panel of Commissioners, who must make a finding— |
| (i) | that the allegation is true, supported by evidence and therefore substantiated; |
| (ii) | that the allegation is not true not supported by evidence and therefore unsubstantiated; |
| (iii) | of no jurisdiction; or |
| (iv) | that the grievance must be deferred for further investigation; |
| (d) | conduct a format inquiry into the grievance in terms of section 10 of the Act read with rule 17; or |
| (e) | refer the grievance to an appropriate public body or authority, including the Public Protector appointed as such in terms of section 1A of the Public Protector Act, 1994 (Act No. 23 of 1994). |
[Rule 12(1) substituted by section 11(a) of the Public Service Commission Rules on Referral and Investigation of Grievances of Employees in the Public Service Amendment of 2023, Notice No. 2374, GG50311, dated 22 March 2024 - effective 1 May 2024]
| (2) | The Commission must record its findings and reasons for any decision taken in subrule (1 ) in writing and where applicable also make written recommendations to the relevant department. |
(3)
| (a) | The Commission must communicate the outcome of its investigation in writing to the executive authority and where the grievance was referred by an aggrieved employee, also to the aggrieved employee. |
| (b) | Where the grievance was referred by the executive authority, the Commission shall provide the aggrieved employee with a copy of the outcome submitted to the executive authority. |
[Rule 12(3) substituted by section 11(b) of the Public Service Commission Rules on Referral and Investigation of Grievances of Employees in the Public Service Amendment of 2023, Notice No. 2374, GG50311, dated 22 March 2024 - effective 1 May 2024]
| (4) | Once the Commission has made a finding on a grievance and has made recommendations, it may not reconsider the finding or alter the recommendations. |
