The States Employment Board has been locked in a lengthy pay dispute with civil service unions – with several days of strike action having already taken place.
But that has not stopped a job advert appearing for a highly paid consultant to work between Monday and Thursday with free flights, luxury five-star accommodation and full food-and-drink expenses.
The recruitment agency has since posted that the ‘job is no longer available’ but the States are still seeking someone for the role. A States spokeswoman said the agency had not been authorised to post the advert and it had been deleted as the terms and conditions listed were not correct.
Nick Corbel, regional representative for Unite the Union, said the States were ‘taking the p***’ and that bringing another expensive consultant to the Island would ‘strengthen the resolve’ of public sector staff.
It is another blow to civil servants and teachers who feel the latest pay offer put forward by the SEB undervalues their work and comes just a day after a damning report from Comptroller and Auditor General Karen McConnell which found the SEB was ‘not fit for purpose’.
In the States this week, Members rejected using reserves to unlock additional funds for an increased pay offer for public sector workers.
The person appointed to the change-specialist role will be the latest in a string of highly paid consultants to be brought to the Island as part of States chief executive Charlie Parker’s public sector overhaul, which started with a four-strong team of civil servants being paid £5,000 a day.
Mr Corbel said the advert was ‘poorly timed and poorly judged’ and ‘offensive’ to staff currently protesting at years of below-inflation level awards which have eroded their standard of living.
He said: ‘What can you say in response to that [advert]? That is incredible. Is anyone in government accountable for the way they behave?
‘It is another example of the hypocrisy that we see within the SEB in that they keep telling us there is no more money and yet they continue to recruit expensive consultants.
‘It will strengthen the resolve of our members in terms of pursuing their pay claim.’
He added that the role was unnecessary as much of the job description should have already been done as part of the scrapped workforce modernisation programme.
The job advert for the Agenda for Change specialist – which appeared on a UK-based recruitment website – said that the successful applicant need not be from Jersey, as flights would be fully covered.
It read: ‘The role will be based from the organisation’s headquarters in Jersey, Monday – Thursday with flights, luxury five-star accommodation, food and drink fully expensed.
‘You will then be home based on a Friday. Due to the flexibility of travel arrangements this means that the successful candidate can reside anywhere providing you are able to get to a main airport Monday morning and return from there Thursday evening.’
Mr Corbel said: ‘I am gobsmacked by this advert. Many ordinary people will find it offensive – those who are sometimes having to work two or three jobs in order just to maintain a reasonable standard of living.
‘Then they see this – full expenses, travel, luxury accommodation, food and drink on top of £550 a day.
‘It just further shows how the government is out of touch with the people they supposedly represent.’
Earlier this week, the vast majority of schools were forced to close as teachers walked out and protested in the Royal Square over the current SEB offer. The SEB has consistently maintained that there is no money left to fund further pay increases for 2018 and 2019.
A government spokeswoman said: ‘We will shortly be recruiting a job evaluation specialist with experience in ‘Agenda for Change’, one of the tools we use to determine the right grades for roles within the Government of Jersey. This will be a temporary role while we evaluate a number of existing, amended and new roles under the OneGov transformation. The focus of the role will be to help line managers to write job descriptions which accurately reflect the role, so employees can be graded and paid appropriately. The jobholder will also carry out quality assurance checks to ensure we achieve the States Employment Board’s key principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
‘A small number of on and off-island agencies have been engaged to assess candidates for this specialist skill set. However, the off-island agency which posted today’s job advert had not been authorised to do so. The wording was a redraft of a previously advertised job for a private Channel Island organisation and had not been seen or approved by anyone in the Government of Jersey. The terms and conditions listed are not correct and bear no relation to the policies in place for employing temporary and interim staff. The job advert has been deleted.’
