As part of efforts to reduce the number of contract workers within the public service, a total of 1,105 contract workers within the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) will be made permanent employees.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by Minister of National Security, Dr Horace Chang during a statement in the House of Representatives.
“This marks a major and significant milestone in the practice of employing civilian workers to support non-policing functions in the JCF. These workers, for several decades, were employed on fixed-term contracts which limited their access to critical health and pension benefits,” Chang said.
He disclosed that the Office of the Services Commission undertook an audit and produced a report for the period August 1, 2018, to April 30, 2021. The report showed that the JCF had a civilian staff complement of approximately 1,900 persons with close to 50 per cent employed on a contractual basis as either casual daily paid or part-time workers.
“As a consequence, and in fulfilment of the mandate to improve compensation and benefits afforded to public sector workers, the Ministry of National Security undertook the necessary consultations with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, to increase the civilian establishment of the JCF to address this anomaly and to execute the new policy direction of the government,” said Chang.
The deputy prime minister said the “administration remains steadfast in its drive to create a public sector characterised by efficiency, productivity, and competitive salaries for the hard-working people of Jamaica”.
He explained that the duties performed by the civilian staff include administrative roles in areas such as accounting, human resource management, medical services, information technology, sanitation and janitorial services.
“Their work is critical to the proper functioning of the organisation and allows the trained service men and women to focus more fully on core policing functions that directly combat crime. These workers will now be able to access the benefits offered to permanent government employees, such as the health and pension schemes, which provide basic health insurance to offset medical expenses and pension benefits upon retirement,” the security minister stated.
He added that “Most importantly, the practice of sending these workers home after more than 30 years of service with just a ‘handshake’, will now end”.
The move to regularise the workers will affect secretaries, records clerks, office attendants, cell attendants, mail attendants, groundsmen, messengers, motor vehicle washers, and handymen.
