CLA board to reassess all post-HREC hiring decisions

The board of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) is to review all hiring decisions made since January following the disbandment of an oversight committee that had previously rejected an unqualified applicant who was subsequently hired.

“As a result of the matters being raised in the public as well as concerns raised by the CEO (chief executive officer), a board review of the operation of the HREC (Human Resource Executive Committee) as well as all hiring and firing undertaken since January will be conducted,” said the board of the entity that regulates Jamaica’s ganja and hemp industry.

The development is in response to questions from The Sunday Gleaner on whether the board is satisfied that employment decisions have been handled fairly and transparently since CEO Farrah Blake dissolved the HREC on January 25.

“The board has confidence in the operational efficiency and transparency of the CEO,” it added.

The issue was first highlighted by The Sunday Gleaner on August 4. Over a dozen workers have since called for the Auditor General’s Department to investigate hiring practices, position confirmations, and reassignments, as well as the procurement, financial, and regulatory activities of the CLA.

Although a CEO has final decision-making authority, committees like the HREC play a “pivotal role in supporting equity, transparency, due diligence, HR policy development, and compliance”, according to the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, the leading body for HR practitioners on the island.

The CLA’s Human Resource Policy and Procedures Manual stipulates that the CEO is “ultimately accountable for the exercise of the human resource management functions of the authority” and should establish accountability mechanisms, including the Human Resource Executive Committee. The CEO appoints members.

In its response last week, the Christopher McPherson-chaired board stated that it played no role in the decision to dissolve the HREC, noting that the committee “is not within the purview of the board”.

The board further argued that the HREC “has not been disbanded”. It said the committee was created in 2021 under a terms of reference that gave it “a tenure of three years” and with that tenure ending in January, a decision was taken to revamp the committee based on “lessons learnt”. A new committee is expected to be in place by October 2024.

However, a copy of the committee’s terms of reference obtained by The Sunday Gleaner does not indicate that the committee had a three-year lifespan. Instead, the document outlines how long members were to be appointed.

“The members of the HREC upon appointment will serve for two years, in the first instance,” stated the five-page document, approved on January 8, 2021, by then-CEO Lincoln Allen.

The document specifies that the committee is to deliberate on all HR functions of the CLA, including appointments, separations, training, and discipline, with decisions or recommendations requiring ratification by the CEO before execution. The CEO is a member of the committee but does not have voting rights.

Meanwhile, it does not appear that the CLA’s leadership contemplated a 10-month gap in replacing the committee based on the CEO’s memo that dissolved the committee in January.

That memo does not reference the expiration of a three-year tenure but states, “The committee has served for three years and at this time a review of the terms of reference and construct of the HREC has become necessary.”

It continued, “Accordingly, effective 25 January 2024, the tenure of the CLA’s HREC will come to an end. A new delegation will be named in short order and the terms of reference updated.”

The Sunday Gleaner has asked the board to provide a copy of the terms of reference it referred to.

The Office of the Services Commissions, which oversees HR functions in sections of the government, was asked on July 29 about the role of the HREC at the CLA, among other related issues. It responded on August 12, stating that neither it nor the Public Service Commission “has jurisdiction over this entity (Cannabis Licensing Authority) and its human resource functions”.

It directed further enquiries to the Senator Aubyn Hill-led Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, which said in July that it was unaware of the HR concerns at the CLA. Last week, it promised to answer additional questions by the end of this week.

The CLA disbanded the HREC days after it voted against hiring a candidate recommended for the post of director, human resource management and administration. Despite the committee’s recommendation, the candidate was later hired in February, prompting staff concerns about a “total lack of transparency”. The official resigned in May.

Since the committee’s dissolution, at least 10 positions have been filled, alongside numerous reassignments, confirmations, and contract non-renewals. The recent assignment of an administrative assistant to a director’s post to oversee the administration division of the CLA has shocked many CLA workers who have questioned the official’s qualifications and experience.

The board did not specify who will lead the review of the hiring decisions or when the process is expected to be completed. The agency said it would respond to those issues by Friday.

TRANSITIONING CONTRACT WORKERS TO STAFF

Meanwhile, the board has not provided a timeline for transitioning the 65 CLA employees from contract employment to permanent staff in the public service, an issue of major concern to the workers.

Interest has heightened after the Government announced a policy to end the use of contract employment in the public sector.

“This is a problem that has been around for several decades, and got worse over time. I didn’t cause the problem, but I committed that over a three-year period ending in Fiscal Year 2025/26, we will address it,” said Finance and Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke in March.

At that time, he announced that hundreds of workers in public schools, as well as garbage collection workers who have worked without benefits for years, will now become pensionable as their status was being upgraded from contract workers to permanent employees. Doctors also benefited.

The CLA was pushing ahead with a June 1, 2023, transition date, according to documents obtained by The Sunday Gleaner. The process started as early as August 16, 2022, when then interim CEO Daenia Ashpole wrote to the finance ministry requesting the transition for all posts below the office of CEO.

“Regularising the employments will allow staff to gain access to some critical benefits, which would impact their way of life, add stability to staff retention efforts and assist the authority in reducing its operational costs, with the removal of gratuity payments,” said Ashpole, who noted then that attrition rates at the CLA trended “consistently above 20%, which more than doubles the international standard”.

She said the uncertainty of tenure due to the short nature of contracts caused staff to seek other jobs, leading to high attrition rates and the loss of institutional knowledge “which does not augur well for a fledgling industry”. The CLA was established in 2015 with the liberalisation of the ganja industry.

The finance ministry responded to the CLA CEO in a letter dated September 6, 2022, requesting additional details such as the entity’s HR manual and feedback from financial institutions about a pension plan.

In April 2023, CLA advised its staff that the National Commercial Bank was the approved pension provider and that enrolment forms would be circulated by the end of that month. A month later, several forms, including those for salary deductions, were circulated to staff for completion and return by June 2, 2023.

The process was halted, however, on June 1, as the board chairman advised staff at a meeting that day that the transition had to be put on hold.

McPherson, a senior director at the National Land Agency and former adviser to Minister Hill, was appointed CLA chairman on September 11, 2022. His tenure ends next month.

More than a year later, the process remains unresolved.

In its response to The Sunday Gleaner last week, the board did not outline any specific steps it had taken to advance the process.

“It is difficult to determine a timeline based on the steps that need to be taken and the approval process that will need to be adhered to,” it said, adding that “the staff transition is important to the board but it requires the inclusion of a number of stakeholders (including staff) to ensure its success and the best interest of staff.”

The board added, “There is a need to ensure that the organisation [is] being shaped to suit the needs required, including the addition of new skills and talent to the authority as a response to the needs of the industry.”

jovan.johnson@gleanerjm.com