The Tribune

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

ONE of the first managers I worked for was a smart man. He was a straight dealer. He knew how to handle workers, and what to do to get the job done. He also knew what not to do, and what got in the way of that.

He was also wise. I remember him telling me one of his golden rules in management. He said: “Whatever you do, don’t mess around with people’s pay.” He didn’t use the word mess, though.

He went on from that. “You don’t. You just don’t. But if you absolutely have to, you tell them about it as soon as you can.”

The government has pulled a surprise move for the large number of public servants in the country by announcing that their salaries will be paid out every two weeks.

Now, many will appreciate this move, let’s be clear. Since the announcement, I have heard more than a few people in the private sector saying man, I wish they would pay me every two weeks too.

The trouble is that it’s come from out of the blue. Well, out of the clouds actually.

A “project” called Cloud Bahamas was launched last month to digitise the public service, and the paying out of salaries every two weeks will fall under its control.

We have not been told a lot about Cloud Bahamas yet – how it is operating, whose control it is under, and so on – which itself makes one wonder. Certainly a project launching last month and taking control of such a big task right away does seem like a very short lead-in time to make sure everything is tested and ready to go.

Hand in hand with that is that the government seems to have also broken the golden rule about telling people about what is happening with their pay. At least two major unions have raised their hands and said hey, you forgot to tell us about this.

Changing the schedule of people’s pay is a material change in their terms and conditions of employment. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, it’s a big thing. People base their lives around when their pay comes in – and while they will be getting the same pay, they need to know when it is hitting their bank account so they can pay their bills.

I don’t need to tell you readers how people do that – you do that yourselves. There’s the big bill of the month – the rent or mortgage if you have one. If it’s rent, you pay when your landlord says you pay – is your landlord going to shift to picking up the money every two weeks instead of every month? Good luck with that, hope you’ve got a good landlord. And the bank for your mortgage – lots of people have that coming out right when your pay hits, sometimes through salary deduction. I don’t even know if the banks have been consulted on this – though I’m willing to bet they haven’t – but will they accept deductions on the new pay cycle? Will they impose an extra charge for each of those transactions along the way?

Then there’s all the other bills – the school fees, the car loan, the power bill, the cable bill, the food store, and everything else that fits under this and that.

Heck, the government elsewhere has just decided we should all be paying our car licence and insurance in the same month for their own reasons and now you’ve got to figure that out with your salary split in two over the month.

In a voice note circulating around over the weekend, Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson pointed out that as it stands some teachers right now cannot even get a pay slip in a timely manner.

She said that Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis had “forgotten to consult with us”, although she also asked: “Is this another ill-advised directive from the wannabe minister of finance Simon Wilson?”

She then listed a series of situations which needed clearing up – such as when the change will take effect, what happens regarding people on medical leave, have the banking days been adjusted, would salaries now be paid for 13 months, what happens in months with five weeks, what happens with loan and mortgage deductions, glitches with the new Oracle system which allowed people to see others’ personal information, and so on.

She said, pointedly, and harking back to my old boss’ wisdom: “Mr Prime Minister, you are now touching the worker’s money.”

She also raised a pertinent point: “While you are at it, please let the public know who are the owners and shareholders of Cloud Bahamas.”

The move also apparently will allow, according to director of communications in the Office of the Prime Minister Latrae Rahming, “accurate tracking of employee attendance and performance, preventing salary payments to those who have abandoned their jobs”.

Quite how was not explained – but keeping track of attendance and performance is a basic management function. If the government hasn’t been able to do that, then there’s a few managers it ought to be getting rid of.

The thing is with this change is that it absolutely could be a good thing – as I said, there were plenty of people wishing they could get the same deal.

But the way it has been sprung on people makes them more than a little suspicious.

Kimsley Ferguson, the president at the Public Services Union, pointed out that no studies had been done to determine how people in the region will be affected.

Mr Davis says that the change will help small businesses because of the uptick in economic activity from government workers – well, it’s the same pot of money, changing the payment to every two weeks won’t mean more money for small businesses, just spread the spending across the month a bit more.

And here’s the thing – if it is good for the country, if it is good for the workers, how has the government managed to fumble the ball so badly?

Don’t mess with the people’s money. It’s a simple rule. An easy one. Surely in the discussions before launching this someone, somewhere had the wit of my old boss and piped up to say hey, you’re going to need to talk to workers about this. If they didn’t, then it explains the lack of consultation in just about every other area from government these days.

If this really is a good thing, do it right.