The Tribune

THIRTEEN BEC workers pocketed more than $600,000 in overtime pay over eight months, The Tribune was told.

These workers earned more in overtime than their base salaries, working some 14,730 hours in overtime between October 2011 and June 2012 – on top of their normal 40-hour work week.

Factoring in a normal working week of 40 hours, Monday to Friday, over the 32 weeks in this specific period, it would mean that these workers laboured from 9am to 1am the next day.

Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, former Minister of State for the Environment Phenton Neymour said that before the FNM was voted out of office, plans were in place for the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) to undergo a forensic analysis with a view to restructuring the organisation, department by department, so as to reduce overtime and improve customer service.

“This has always been a challenge in all of the

government corporations, not just BEC. We have had challenges at the Water and Sewerage (WSC), and previously the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) when it was government owned. But especially with BEC it was one of our top priorities to lower overtime costs when Fred Gottlieb was the chairman. It was a matter that was on the table at every Board meeting.”

According to Mr Neymour, the challenges of BEC’s structure, along with the contract that the Union enjoys with the corporation creates an environment where some employees take advantage of their industrial agreement to get more overtime.

Currently, salaries at BEC constitutes nearly half of the corporation’s total annual expenditure. The corporation, since 2005, has not turned a profit.

Of the 800 salaries reviewed by The Tribune, the highest total amount of overtime paid to any one worker was $63,543 – an increase of 128 per cent from that worker’s base salary of $49,547.

The employee logged 1,265 overtime hours.

The highest percentage increase over base salary was 132.57 per cent – an increase over a base of $38,540 – with an overtime addition of $51,092 for a total salary to date of $89,632. This equated to a total of 1,344.5 overtime hours in eight months.

Dozens of other overtime salaries ranged from $30,000 to $40,000.

According to Mr Neymour, a solution to this ongoing dilemma at BEC requires dialogue between management and the union.

“It also requires an analysis of who is taking advantage of the overtime. And we began that process. But you also have to realise that BEC is a utility and it would require individuals to come out and perform certain duties. The contract stipulates that some employees when called out would be guaranteed a minimum amount of overtime. For example if an employee is called out to turn on a switch which might require them to drive half an hour to and half an hour from the plant, by contract they would get more than that one hour in overtime would warrant. They may get three hours instead.”

Mr Neymour said that overtime pay was reduced under the FNM administration because they required a higher scrutiny of staff. He also said that while he was Minister, they reviewed the connections between managers and workers who would be authorizing their overtime hours.

“Are you aware that also at these corporations, members of management can also receive overtime? The overtime was tracked by the Board and it was an item on the Board’s agenda every meeting while I was the minister. It was under scrutiny. Overtime is an item that can easily get out of hand if you are not paying attention to it on a consistent basis.

“There is one element for the public to recognise, that the fuel component comprises 60 to 65 per cent of their bill. At BEC there needs to be an analysis of the structure of the organization and whether that structure provides the best level of service to consumers. At BEC there are some departments that are overstaffed and some that are understaffed. In some areas where departments are understaffed there may be an abuse of overtime. The answer in my view is not to just hire new persons. For instance there may be an area where staff may be transferred from one section to supplement another.”

In any event, Mr Neymour reminded the public that the union’s presence and its influence is “extremely strong” at these government corporations – warning that any dramatic impact on workers would not come without the threat of industrial action.

“In order to change these industrial agreements, management would have to concede certain points. The contracts have existed for so long that they, in order to diminish a benefit in one area, one may have to advance it in another. That has been the tradition in many cases. The first industrial agreement signed with BEC that did not involve industrial action was when I was the minister,” he said.

Attempts to reach Works Minister Philip “Brave” Davis or the Chairman of BEC Leslie Miller, for comment on this matter were unsuccessful up to press time last night.