Bumpy start to Christmas payday rollout

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service started rolling out its long-awaited compensation system on Tuesday, but some government workers reported not being paid, while there were pockets of complaints disputing sums.

Workers at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development were among some government workers who went home without their salaries on Tuesday.

The employees were scheduled to receive their new compensation package, which has been delayed owing to “circumstances beyond our control”, according to Marsha Henry-Martin, permanent secretary in the ministry.

In a missive to staff, which was seen by The Gleaner, Henry-Martin sought to reassure the workers that the local government ministry was in dialogue with the finance ministry and the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU) as they work to resolve the delay in the “shortest possible time”.

Some workers at Gordon House, the seat of Jamaica’s bicameral legislature, were not paid on Tuesday also but are hoping that the money will be disbursed today or later this week.

At the same time, employees of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) were advised on Tuesday that they would not be paid until Wednesday. However, this delay was anticipated by the workers.

The information was reportedly communicated via an email from the Ministry of Health & Wellness late on Monday and concern raised by Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) President O’Neil Grant during a Zoom discussion with SERHA staff Tuesday morning.

“Yes, salaries will be delayed. We’re trying to pay them tomorrow (Wednesday),” SERHA’s Regional Director Errol Greene said when contacted by The Gleaner.

Grant told more than 250 participants on Tuesday’s Zoom call that the union has been trying, without success, to get an update on why the advisory was issued.

“I’m yet to get an explanation. I need to get that to say, ‘well, this is what we have been told.’ I’ve asked them what assurances are we getting that tomorrow we’re not going to hear the same story?” Grant said.

“Those are the kinds of questions I’ve been asking on my members’ behalf because I don’t want to be the one to tell you that it has not been paid because … . That’s not what we want to do. We want to say that we have learnt that it has not been paid and we have gotten the assurances that it will be paid,” he added.

In the same breath, he criticised the finance ministry, noting that it has been ineffective in its communication, even as it implements the new compensation system for public-sector workers.

He said that the union has borne the brunt of the criticisms from public-sector workers and has asserted that it will now go on the offensive in changing the negative narrative.

Grant told the JSCA membership that he has advised the Ministry of Finance and the TIU that they need to carry out a public education session with government workers to explain how they arrive at the new compensation package.

The union wants the finance ministry to provide a breakdown of the December payslip and what January’s pay would look like.

“For the persons who are getting the new pay in January and whatever retroactive increases that are due to them, you want to ensure that they, too, understand what they are getting,” Grant said.

The JCSA president signalled to workers he represents that the union is seeking someone with expertise to audit the template used to calculate the new compensation remuneration to “ensure that what the Government has designed and is using is, in fact, a good tool, but we have not been in a position to test it yet”.

“There are a lot of grey areas and gaps in the template, and the JCSA has communicated its concerns to the TIU and the Ministry of Finance and they are reportedly working to make sure those gaps are fixed and the persons who are negatively affected ought to be treated with.”

A week ago, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke reported that there would be errors with some salaries this week.

“No matter what the computer might generate next week, and I tell you from now, the computer might generate, in some cases, an aberration or an error … we want you to take comfort and confidence in the assurance that we have given unscathed in front of a TV camera, in front of a radio microphone, in communications online and right here live and direct that there is a minimum net increase that every member of the public sector will receive and that amount is 20 per cent on a net basis,” he said then.

The 20 per cent increase covers the three-year implementation period.