Following a Freedom of Information request from the JEP, it was revealed last week that almost £500,000 has been paid to 74 States workers who have been suspended since 2012, with the average suspension time being just under 50 days.
But the board has said that the length of time that investigations take, which has been the subject of criticism, can be out of their control, especially where third parties are involved.
A spokesman for the board said: ‘It is important to note that suspension is a neutral act. It does not presume guilt or otherwise until the investigation is complete and a disciplinary hearing undertaken.
‘Some of the suspensions resulted from activities not related directly to the roles carried out by employees which potentially impact on their employment with the States of Jersey.
‘Where suspensions are dependent on outside agencies such as the police, their investigations may impact on the time taken to resolve the suspension and, hence, tend to skew the overall average length of a suspension.’
The spokesman also said that following concerns raised in 2009 measures had been put in place to monitor suspensions.
He said: ‘A Suspension Review Panel which reports to the States Employment Board on a regular basis meets monthly to review suspensions and to ensure they are resolved in a timely fashion and that the suspension remains appropriate. He added: ‘To put the figures in context for 2015, the total number of working days lost to suspension in 2015 to date represents 0.053 per cent of the total number of available working days available, which is 1,620,165.
‘The total pay bill for 2015 suspensions represented 0.0284 per cent.’
