Pay not attractive, IC staff wants parity with counterparts – Beresford

Craig Beresford, executive director of the Integrity Commission (IC), says the anti-corruption body has challenges retaining highly skilled staff and attracting new talent due to the level of remuneration they receive when compared with their counterpart investigative agencies.

In an interview with The Gleaner, Beresford signalled that the Government’s Compensation Review exercise has made the IC less attractive to prospective employees.

Since his appointment some three months ago, Beresford said he has met with key state actors, including the prime minister, Opposition leader, Speaker of the House, president of the Senate, and the financial secretary. During those engagements, the executive director said he raised the issue of the uncompetitive rates of compensation for staff at the IC.

“The problem is, you take on board persons, build their capacity, but because the compensation is not as attractive, they will move to the counterparts (anti-corruption entities) with the new skill set,” he said.

While awaiting the decisions of key actors on a salary improvement for IC staff, Beresford said it requires a timely response as employees are agitating for the issue to be addressed urgently.

Discussing possible negative implications of the uncompetitive pay rates, Beresford said an investigator may be focusing on a particular matter and the probe is well under way. However, he said the investigator might not be happy with his compensation and decides to leave the entity midway into the probe. This would result in prolonged delays and ultimately have a negative impact on the output of the agency.

In its latest annual report, the Integrity Commission said the 2024-2025 fiscal year began with a staffing level of 123 employees. At the end of that fiscal year, the commission’s structure of 178 posts was at 77 per cent of capacity with 137 employees, representing an increase of 11 per cent over the previous year’s complement.

During the reporting period, the commission said it recruited 31 fixed-term contract (FTC) employees, whilst there were 17 FTC separations from the organisation.

The IC said the rate of separation continues to be a cause for concern within the commission, as the cost for finding new employees, plus the training expense, and time to equip and deploy them to the productive workforce is negatively impacting the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.

According to the IC, the turnover rate of FTC employees for the 2024-2025 reporting period was 12 per cent, representing a three per cent reduction over the previous year.

It was also reported by the IC, in its annual report, that the investigation division was functioning with 50 per cent of its investigators. The IC said this has resulted in a high case-to-investigator ratio.

Despite this ratio, the IC said that up to March 31, 2025, the agency completed more than 90 per cent of all complaints and referrals received.

It also highlighted that over the last five financial years, 134 matters were referred to the director of corruption prosecution for consideration, and a decision to charge was returned in 130, or 97 per cent, of these matters.

The IC said all matters concluded in the courts, up to the publication of its last annual report, have resulted in convictions or guilty pleas.

“This represents a 100 per cent conviction rate,” the IC stated.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com