NATSEC PROBATION OFFICERS ALLOWANCE TAKEN AWAY

CCNTV6

A call to the Chief Personnel Officer to resolve  what is being referred to as an "injustice" done to 17 Probation Officers at the Ministry of National Security.   It's coming from the Public Services Association, which tells us that their vehicle upkeep allowance has been taken away. But the issue is extending past that institution, and the PSA feels something bigger is amiss.   Alicia Boucher has more in this report.

Transcript

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.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended