FIGHT STILL ON

The Jamaica Police Federation (JPF) says it will not be backing down with its demand for the Government to pay what it claims are billions of dollars owed to cops for actual overtime work since 2008 after the Full Court failed to grant the compensation order on Friday.

JPF Chairman Corporal Rohan James, who is contending that the police are owed $40 billion, said he will be meeting with the members of the union and their legal team to determine their next steps.

The JPF has been battling for years with the Government over overtime payments for rank-and-file officers and took the Government to court in 2019 seeking compensation for overtime hours worked by members as well as declarations and damages.

Yesterday the Full Court ordered the Government to put in place an efficient system to accurately capture overtime hours worked by the rank and file of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) by the end of March next year and to pay them for those hours.

James, however, insisted that the fight would not be abandoned.

“Of course, we still be pursuing that,” he declared.

Reacting to the court ruling, he said: “The Federation is elated and at least at this time, it’s a major victory for us, it is long in coming and it’s one step closer to enforcing the fact that we have been working for a period of time without proper recognition in law in that we are workers with rights and at this time it is also incumbent that we, therefore, move towards enforcing this aspect of the judgment with our commissioner of police with the stipulation of a proper 40-hour workweek mechanism going forward.”

Frustrated by the failure of the Government to implement a promised system to properly capture overtime hours worked by cops and to start paying them accordingly, the JPF went to court, claiming that the Government had breached their agreements.

Between 2008 and 2019, the Government and the JPF had entered into five different heads of agreement, which outlined, among other things, the salaries and benefits due to the rank and file.

From the first agreement was inked, both parties had agreed to the establishment a 40-hour workweek, where workers would be compensated for hours worked in excess.

They had agreed that an efficient system was needed to accurately capture these hours and that the Government would implement the system by March 2010. In the interim, they agreed, the police would be paid for 10 additional hours whether or not they worked extra hours.

To date, the system is yet to be implemented and a new deadline date had not been communicated prior to the court action.

The JPF lawyers had argued that the police are contractually entitled to have the system established, and that they had a legitimate expectation for it to be done, and on this basis, sought damages.

But the lawyers for the Government argued that police were not entitled to any remedy as they had repeatedly agreed to the extension of the time for the implementation of the system and had accepted the payments for the additional hours.

But the three-judge panel – consisting of justices David Batts, Tara Carr and Cresencia Brown Beckford – found that the claimants had a legitimate expectation and that the heads of agreement were binding.

However, as it relates to damages, the court found that the agreed 10-hour overtime payment represented agreed liquidated damages.

“The police officers agreed to accept payment for 10 hours, regardless of the actual hours, because of the existing difficulties in measuring the actual hours worked. There, is, therefore, no prospect of loss being established in the consequences of this breach,” Batts said.

The judge also found that there was no scope for an award for constitutional breach, although the police were left disappointed by the failed expectation, as the 10-hour overtime payment would suffice as a remedy.

The judges also did not address the issue of compensation for actual overtime hours worked, but awarded court cost to the police.

Following the ruling, Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke said that the Government is respectful of its contractual obligations, pursuant to the various heads of agreement signed with the JPF.

In a release, he said that the agreed 10-hour payment was an important element that was missing in the ongoing public discourse on the matter.

However, he noted that Government had started the process of procuring a system to capture the actual overtime worked by the lawmen and that a budgetary allocation has been made to finance the project this year.

In the meantime, James denied being disappointed in the ruling, noting that the cops were in for the long haul.

“Justice is something that is long in the haul, and it is something that you know of a fact in pursuing justice, it is always a long haul and a long road, so we are not daunted by the process that we have to apply,” James said. “We have been waiting and we have reached this far, and it is incumbent that we go the distance to ensure that all the members who have sacrificed their life, blood, sweat and tears, they are given due recompense ... .”

Attorneys-at-law Jacqueline Samuels Brown, QC, and Keisha Spence represented the JPF, while Annaliesa Lindsay and Matthew Gabbidon represented the defendants.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com