February pay hit by delay for some health workers - SEHRA

A memo sent to employees of the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) informing them that their monthly salaries, due today, will be delayed due to "circumstances beyond our control" has sparked frustration and anger among staff members.

A staff member, who spoke to The Gleaner anonymously, said workers are concerned that this was retaliatory action for the withdrawal of services by medical consultants, who are currently protesting the absence of a committed timeline by the Government for retroactive salary payments.

However, Lascelles Brown, acting regional director of SERHA, said this is not the case.

“It is not, I can confirm that it is not,” he said.

He told The Gleaner that the delayed salaries are because of some challenges at the Ministry of Finance and this is also affecting other regions.

“We are having issues with salaries across all regions and we have advised all staff on that matter, it doesn’t just affect doctors but it affects everybody else, including myself," he said.

“We are aware that there are issues with salaries not just in SERHA but in other regions so that salary will be a bit late and we are still awaiting word from the Ministry as to when that will be uploaded but we are aware,” he added.

While not committing to a timeframe within which the salaries will be paid, Brown is optimistic that the issue will be resolved by tomorrow.

“Based on my discussions, it should be done today but I can’t confirm because the origin of that payment is not within SERHA, it’s outside of SERHA. So we are in direct contact with the Ministry as we speak as it relates to that so we are hoping we’ll be able to resolve it within the next 24 hours,” he said.

- Sashana Small

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