Possible severance packages for JAG staff detailed
Volunteer chair receives extra $20,000 for consulting public
Cape Breton Post
Saturday, June 19, 2003
The chairman of the Joint
Action Group recently received
an extra $20,000 from government
for time spent consulting
the public on ways to cleanup
the Sydney tar ponds and coke
Ovens site.
That brings the total
amount of remuneration for
the volunteer position to nearly
$65,000 this year.
Chairman Dan Fraser said
the position normally allows
for a perdiem rate of $180 a day
for a minimum of 180 days a
year totalling $32,400 annually.
A retainer fee of $1,000 a month
is also included in the allotment
for a maximum of $12,000 each year.
During the public participation
process, aimed at selecting
cleanug technologies for the
toxic sites, Fraser said he was
working about 80 hours a week
on average. As a result, government
permitted him a one
time increase on the total number of days he could claim
which resulted in the bonus.
"The preparation of the
short list of options report and
the public consultation that followed
its release put extraordinary
demands on Dan's time,"
said Parker Donham, provincial
spokesperson.
"The province felt the additional
stipend was warranted
and therefore we agreed to it."
Fraser said his remuneration
is isolated from salaries
paid to the rest of JAG's secretariat
and he isn't seeking severance
from government once
his term ends at JAG's annual
general meeting Saturday.
But, some JAG members are
recommending that its government
partners develop an equitable
severance package for the
rest of JAG's staff, which is
expected to get an official notification
of termination by the end of June.
JAG was notified earlier
this month that the provincial
and federal governments
would not continue with a
memorandum of understandidg
that funded the organization.
The MOU was signed by
the three levels of government
and JAG members in 1997.
That five-year agreement
was up for renewal in September
but the notice of termination
ended that possibility.
Barry McCallum, program
co-ordinator, has reviewed termination
models used by various levels
of government and
their Crown corporations such
as Sysco and Devco.
He has since summarized
that information for an
employee with one-year of service,
the range of models
reviewed would provide from a
minimum of no payment to a
maximum of 39 weeks payment,
with an average of eight
weeks severance. For an
employee with six years of
service, the range is from
a minimum of no payment
to a maximum of 39 weeks,
with an average of 23 weeks severance.
The range of other payments
for education and moving
is from $0 to $12,000 with
the average payment at $4,571.
Full-time salaries at JAG's
secretariat are now $37,210 for
its executive assistant, $58,530
for its public information officer,
$86,700 for its program co-ordinator,
$26,550 for its secretary,
and $20,580 for an administrative assistant.
In addition, full-time
employees have access to medical,
dental and pension benefits.
A part time administrative
assistant is paid $10.55 per
hour, a part-time community
outreach officer is paid $16.56
an hour and a part-time Website
data base administrator is
paid $11.69 an hour.
All salaries have been
approved by JAG's roundtable
members.
tcmacdonald@cbpost.com
|