00:00Probation officers at the Ministry of National Security have been in receipt of a vehicle
00:05upkeep allowance to the tune of $2,500 monthly as part of their salary for years.
00:10They are also afforded a mileage allowance, which is done via a claim system, as their
00:15job requires them to utilize their personal vehicles in carrying out their duties.
00:20Those duties include conducting investigations and preparing reports for the courts, which
00:24involve field work, home visits, prison assessments and community inquiries.
00:29TV6 News has been told that 17 probation officers in Levels 1 and 2 were removed from
00:36Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule of the Travelling Allowance Regulations, Chapter 2350, which
00:41facilitated these allowances based on order of the Chief Personnel Officer, Daryl Dindial.
00:47Instead, they have been told to claim under Regulation 16, which we're told only factors
00:51in the mileage claims and not the upkeep allowance.
00:55Second Vice President of the Public Services Association, Avinash Maharaj says it's a blow
01:00to the probation officers who are presently on 2013 salaries, despite a rise in the cost
01:05of living and fuel over the past years.
01:08Faced with those challenges, we have a Chief Personnel Officer who does not seem that it
01:13is fit for these workers to be able to repay their upkeep allowances.
01:18What is also impacted is that for travelling officers on a travelling schedule, those persons
01:24are afforded certain benefits such as loans, vehicle repair loans, loans to purchase vehicles,
01:31tax exemption and duties off when they purchase vehicles.
01:35But having been removed from those schedules, they are no longer beneficiaries of those
01:41benefits.
01:42A letter from the PSA to the CPO, dated December 9, 2024, indicated that it was a unilateral
01:48decision and did not involve consultation with the association, which is the recognized
01:53majority union.
01:54The letter also outlined that the allowance for mileage that they are to receive had
01:59not been paid for nine months at that time.
02:02We would have intervened on behalf of those workers, we would have sent correspondences
02:07to the Chief Personnel Officer who indicated that they are working on it, we would have
02:12escalated it to the Permanent Secretary and then to the Chief Personnel Officer and also
02:17to the Minister of Finance and now to the Special Tribunal.
02:22We have also been informed that some of these officers were promoted from Level 1 to 2
02:27and were never told that they were being removed from the schedule.
02:30Maharaj believes something bigger is at play.
02:32I'm just going to put it out there and I want to ask the CPO if I can get the opportunity
02:36to ask the CPO.
02:38There has not been any rationale or any justification for moving them off the schedule.
02:44My understanding is, and I'm hoping that it is not so, that this CPO intends to review
02:50that travelling schedule and remove a lot more officers.
02:54We have had some issues with the Immigration Division, where similar situations have happened
03:00with the Immigration Division and we have taken similar actions.
03:04In the meantime, travelling officers who remain on the schedule continue to receive their
03:08upkeep allowance.
03:10Maharaj tells us requests by the PSA to meet with the CPO have not materialised.
03:15The Association is calling for a resolution, even if it means through intervention by Finance
03:21Minister Kornenberg.
03:22TV6 News has reached out to the CPO and we are awaiting a response.
03:27Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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