Unions representing thousands of public servants who risk losing their jobs because of the Conservative government’s budget cuts say their members will be angered to learn top government executives received hefty increases in performance pay and bonuses last year.
“I think they will be furious,” said Patty Ducharme, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). “They will be angry, they will be frustrated. People will not be happy, particularly when you think that we have had thousands and thousands of workforce adjustment notices.”
Some executives received as much in performance pay and bonuses as entry-level public servants earn in a year, she pointed out.
Claude Poirier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) said most of his members will be upset.
“What [the government] has said publicly is that the public service was too big. Now, we see that the number of [executives] has been growing, we see that their bonuses and performance pay have been increasing, so I guess there are certain categories of public service employees who are worth more to them — namely executives.
“This is quite disturbing to see.”
Meanwhile, opposition critics say the increases for hundreds of executives send the wrong message at the wrong time.
NDP Treasury Board critic Alexandre Boulerice said it gives the appearance of “throwing money out the window” — money that could have been used to save some of the departments whose funds are being cut.
Liberal Treasury Board critic John McCallum said the increase in performance pay and bonuses is in keeping with the government’s pattern of cutting front-line workers, but not its top-level spending.
“I think this is part of a broader pattern where they talk austerity and, in many areas, they do the opposite.”
The comments come after iPolitics revealed that top federal government executives were quietly given hefty increases in performance pay and bonuses last year at the same time paycheques for MPs and most public servants barely budged.
The biggest percentage jump was in bonuses paid out on top of base salaries and in basic performance pay known as “pay at risk.”
The amount of money the government paid out in bonuses jumped from $913,914 in 2009-10 to $2.2 million in 2010-11 — an increase of 144 per cent. The average bonus for executives lucky enough to get them went from $1,671 in 2009-10 to $4,156 last year.
However, bonus money pales in comparison to “pay-at-risk” (at risk because it is tied to performance reviews) which can add up to thousands of dollars for executives. The average pay-at-risk payment for federal executives rose 4.6 per cent in 2010-11. In 2009-10, the government awarded pay-at-risk to 5,596 executives and the average payment was $12,584. Last year, 5,505 executives received it and the average cheque was $13,168.
Base pay for federal government executives in 2010 ranged from $99,600 to $191,900.
Bonuses and pay-at-risk are part of the federal government’s Performance Management Program designed to encourage, recognize and reward strong performance by its top officials. The performance of each executive is assessed after the end of the government’s March 31 fiscal year and performance pay is generally paid out by the fall.
For the 2011-12 fiscal year that has just ended, executives will be judged in part on how successful they were in cutting costs in their departments during the government’s strategic and operating review. Also known as the deficit reduction action plan, the review has resulted in more than 10,000 public servants receiving letters over the past two weeks advising them their jobs could be in jeopardy. More letters could be delivered this week.
Treasury Board President Tony Clement was in Brazil and unavailable for comment. However his director of communications, Jennifer Gearey, said the performance pay doesn’t add to departmental budgets.
“The Budget 2010 freeze on departmental operating budgets remains in effect, so departments have to absorb costs for compensation internally,” Gearey wrote. “This provides an incentive for departments to make prudent decisions when it comes to performance pay.”
Gearey said increases in the base salary for government executives will be in line with those of the public service.
“Senior public servants will be limited to the same 1.75-per-cent salary increase that the government negotiated with PSAC. Our government has also set the tone by freezing salaries for ministers, members of Parliament and senators, reducing ministers’ offices spending by 18 per cent and spending in the Prime Minister’s Office by 22 per cent.”
However, Poirier said the data tables indicate the government may be using pay-at-risk and bonuses to increase the money executives take home because, during budget cuts, they can’t easily bump them up into a higher pay grade.
“A good portion of them don’t get in range movement [pay] because they are probably already topped up, they are already at the top of their salary scale. So getting a bigger bonus is a good way for the employer to offer them a bigger salary without reclassifying them.”
Ducharme questioned why executives receive performance pay in the first place and suggested they are using performance pay to try to disguise pay increases.
“There’s all this fat to trim when it’s front-line workers who they like to call back-office workers. Yet when it’s back-office workers who are managing the program or the department, there’s buckets of money to pay bonuses.”
Ducharme was also critical of the amount of pay-at-risk some government executives received — as high as $17,408. “There are people in Canada who work all year, full time who don’t make $15,000 a year.”
Boulerice said the increases for executives will create “terrible” work environments and spending $2 million on bonuses isn’t the most efficient use of taxpayers’ money.
“I would prefer to spend $2 million to pay inspectors who will verify the quality of our food rather than give it to managers who will just increase their salaries.”
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Elizabeth Thompson
“I think they will be furious,” said Patty Ducharme, national executive vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). “They will be angry, they will be frustrated. People will not be happy, particularly when you think that we have had thousands and thousands of workforce adjustment notices.”
Some executives received as much in performance pay and bonuses as entry-level public servants earn in a year, she pointed out.
Claude Poirier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) said most of his members will be upset.
“What [the government] has said publicly is that the public service was too big. Now, we see that the number of [executives] has been growing, we see that their bonuses and performance pay have been increasing, so I guess there are certain categories of public service employees who are worth more to them — namely executives.
“This is quite disturbing to see.”
Meanwhile, opposition critics say the increases for hundreds of executives send the wrong message at the wrong time.
NDP Treasury Board critic Alexandre Boulerice said it gives the appearance of “throwing money out the window” — money that could have been used to save some of the departments whose funds are being cut.
Liberal Treasury Board critic John McCallum said the increase in performance pay and bonuses is in keeping with the government’s pattern of cutting front-line workers, but not its top-level spending.
“I think this is part of a broader pattern where they talk austerity and, in many areas, they do the opposite.”
The comments come after iPolitics revealed that top federal government executives were quietly given hefty increases in performance pay and bonuses last year at the same time paycheques for MPs and most public servants barely budged.
The biggest percentage jump was in bonuses paid out on top of base salaries and in basic performance pay known as “pay at risk.”
The amount of money the government paid out in bonuses jumped from $913,914 in 2009-10 to $2.2 million in 2010-11 — an increase of 144 per cent. The average bonus for executives lucky enough to get them went from $1,671 in 2009-10 to $4,156 last year.
However, bonus money pales in comparison to “pay-at-risk” (at risk because it is tied to performance reviews) which can add up to thousands of dollars for executives. The average pay-at-risk payment for federal executives rose 4.6 per cent in 2010-11. In 2009-10, the government awarded pay-at-risk to 5,596 executives and the average payment was $12,584. Last year, 5,505 executives received it and the average cheque was $13,168.
Base pay for federal government executives in 2010 ranged from $99,600 to $191,900.
Bonuses and pay-at-risk are part of the federal government’s Performance Management Program designed to encourage, recognize and reward strong performance by its top officials. The performance of each executive is assessed after the end of the government’s March 31 fiscal year and performance pay is generally paid out by the fall.
For the 2011-12 fiscal year that has just ended, executives will be judged in part on how successful they were in cutting costs in their departments during the government’s strategic and operating review. Also known as the deficit reduction action plan, the review has resulted in more than 10,000 public servants receiving letters over the past two weeks advising them their jobs could be in jeopardy. More letters could be delivered this week.
Treasury Board President Tony Clement was in Brazil and unavailable for comment. However his director of communications, Jennifer Gearey, said the performance pay doesn’t add to departmental budgets.
“The Budget 2010 freeze on departmental operating budgets remains in effect, so departments have to absorb costs for compensation internally,” Gearey wrote. “This provides an incentive for departments to make prudent decisions when it comes to performance pay.”
Gearey said increases in the base salary for government executives will be in line with those of the public service.
“Senior public servants will be limited to the same 1.75-per-cent salary increase that the government negotiated with PSAC. Our government has also set the tone by freezing salaries for ministers, members of Parliament and senators, reducing ministers’ offices spending by 18 per cent and spending in the Prime Minister’s Office by 22 per cent.”
However, Poirier said the data tables indicate the government may be using pay-at-risk and bonuses to increase the money executives take home because, during budget cuts, they can’t easily bump them up into a higher pay grade.
“A good portion of them don’t get in range movement [pay] because they are probably already topped up, they are already at the top of their salary scale. So getting a bigger bonus is a good way for the employer to offer them a bigger salary without reclassifying them.”
Ducharme questioned why executives receive performance pay in the first place and suggested they are using performance pay to try to disguise pay increases.
“There’s all this fat to trim when it’s front-line workers who they like to call back-office workers. Yet when it’s back-office workers who are managing the program or the department, there’s buckets of money to pay bonuses.”
Ducharme was also critical of the amount of pay-at-risk some government executives received — as high as $17,408. “There are people in Canada who work all year, full time who don’t make $15,000 a year.”
Boulerice said the increases for executives will create “terrible” work environments and spending $2 million on bonuses isn’t the most efficient use of taxpayers’ money.
“I would prefer to spend $2 million to pay inspectors who will verify the quality of our food rather than give it to managers who will just increase their salaries.”
Original Article
Source: ipolitics
Author: Elizabeth Thompson
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