Clarke urges calm over duty concession removal

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke is insisting that the elimination of the duty concession to travelling officers in the public sector would not place them at a disadvantage.

Clarke was responding to news of unease among members of the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) after reports surfaced that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service had announced plans to eliminate duty concession under the Government’s compensation restructuring exercise to take effect this fiscal year.

“The employee, who today is entitled to a duty concession once every five years, will not be disenfranchised. The new salary will exceed the old salary by an amount that exceeds the value of the duty concession and other allowances that will be absorbed and/or discontinued,” he declared.

In a statement released to The Gleaner last evening, Clarke said that the duty concession emerged as a means of – or substitute for – public sector compensation.

He pointed out that duty concession is available to a large minority of public servants and is accessible once every five years.

“This benefit can be quantified and much more efficiently delivered through annual salary,” he said.

However, Clarke explained that over decades, the Government had constructed an inefficient delivery mechanism for transmitting this value.

“The processing of thousands of duty concessions consumes precious public sector resources in terms of man-hours and requires the involvement of multiple government agencies,” he pointed out.

In addition, Clarke said that it generates a multitude of exceptions, which also consumes precious and scarce resources.

“The system is also manifestly unfair as some government agencies benefit from it while others don’t, and some will say there are no systematic reasons for the differences. In addition, no one receives a dollar of pension from their duty-concession entitlement,” he added.

Arguing that the country can do better, the finance minister said that the simplest and most efficient way to deliver compensation value is through a paycheque.

Yesterday, a meeting was held between the leadership of the JCSA and Clarke to discuss the issue.

An informed source told The Gleaner that the JCSA was surprised at the announcement and sought clarity from the minister regarding the planned elimination of duty concession.

In a missive to the membership of the JCSA, a copy of which The Gleaner has seen, the union, representing some 30,000 public-sector workers, said that having been caught off-guard, it was necessary for the association to have dialogue with the finance ministry.

“Whilst we understand the rationale around the change in government policy, we had serious concerns about the sequencing of the consultations,” the JCSA told its members.

Another meeting is planned for next Tuesday between the JCSA and ministry officials for a more detailed discussion.

Clarke, however, stressed that public-sector employees will be better off as a result of the restructuring and there is no need for apprehension or fear.

“It is important to state that this reform will also be applicable to parliamentarians, some of whom serve as Cabinet ministers. We will equitably implement the restructuring of public-sector compensation,” he said.

The finance and the public service minister said that the Government is embarking on an ambitious policy of restructuring of public-sector compensation.

This policy reform, according to the finance minister, will create a new compensation system that is simple, fair, consistent, transparent, efficient, fiscally sustainable and that better allows the Government to attract and retain the talent needed to run a modern bureaucracy.

Clarke said the Government is engaged in consultations with unions and bargaining groups that are its strategic partners.

“We expect these consultations to intensify in coming weeks with a view towards beginning the implementation of the restructured public-sector compensation in the second quarter of the fiscal year.”