Bethel Primary auxiliary staff struggle with salary issues amid ministry takeover
Published:Friday | January 10, 2025 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Demotivated, stressed, disheartened, and feeling exploited – these are some of the words used by the auxiliary staff members at Bethel Primary School in Hopewell, Hanover, to express their frustration over ongoing salary issues.
The disgruntled workers shared with The Gleaner that they have exhausted all possible avenues in search of a solution, yet their efforts have been in vain.
Bethel Primary, which is a bursar-paid school, has had the Ministry of Education assume responsibility for paying certain categories of staff, including auxiliary workers such as watchmen and cleaners, starting in April 2024. The affected staff believe this change is the root cause of their current difficulties.
“Since the Ministry of Education took over the payment of our fortnightly salaries in April 2024, we have been having several problems, which include wrong amounts being paid to us, not receiving our overtime payments, not receiving our allowances, statutory payments not withdrawn, and in some cases, even though the statutory deductions are made, payments to agencies like the National Housing Trust are not made,” one worker explained.
The affected workers are claiming that they have lodged numerous complaints to Principal Jasmin Johnson but have seen no resolution.
“As late as in December, I did not get my right pay for one fortnight, and when the ministry was contacted, I received another short payment for the following fortnight, and nothing was heard about the amount I was owed from the fortnight before,” an auxiliary staffer explained.
MATTER UNRESOLVED
When The Gleaner contacted Johnson yesterday, she indicated that she has been trying to have the matter settled, but despite having dialogue with the Ministry of Education’s Region IV office in Montego Bay and its head office in Kingston, the matter remained unresolved.
“Ever since the ministry took over the payment of this category of workers, there has been problems,” the principal acknowledged. “Every week the bursar has to submit work certificates to show how many hours per week they (the workers) have worked, but I have received complaints that there are fortnights that some persons do not get any pay.
“I am sure that the work certificates are submitted on a timely basis – never late – yet on a regular basis, there is at least one person who never got any salary or received just a portion of his or her salary,” she added.
To compound the problem, Johnson said that allowances are not paid at times and that none of the workers have received pay-advice slips since May 2024.
“The personnel in the ministry in Kingston are claiming that the machine to do the pay-advice slips has broken down, and no alternative has been put in place. At one point, a pay-advice system called ‘My HR Plus’ was put in place for them, but it never worked,” said Johnson.
“Even the casual workers have complained that they have never gotten a pay slip, and there are times when they do not get any pay, and the first person they complain to is me,” the principal added.
Attempts by The Gleaner to get clarification from the Ministry of Education’s accounts department were unsuccessful. A payroll officer, who declined to speak on the record, directed inquiries to Donna Arboine, the ministry’s financial controller. However, efforts to reach her were also unsuccessful.