Barbados Audit Office Warns of Chronic Late Payment of Salaries in Public Service, Affects Police Service the Most

Chronic late payment of salaries in the Public Service is causing “undue hardship” for thousands of workers, with the Barbados Police Service most affected by the delays.

That is the finding of an audit by the Barbados Audit Office, which is warning that “based on the current projections, a greater number of persons are likely to be affected in 2023 than in previous years”.

One of the solutions tabled by the Auditor General is for steps within the process for the approval of assignments be reviewed and simplified.

Another recommendation was the need for “mechanisms . . . to expedite the approval of recommendations relating to the continuation of assignments where the circumstances surrounding the assignment have not changed”.

The Audit Of The Late Payment Of Salaries In The Public Service is published in the Auditor General’s 2022 report.

Auditor General Leigh Trotman said the Audit Office “compiled and reviewed late payment information extracted from the Government’s payroll and financial systems, which indicated that the total number of persons paid late across the Public Service has been increasing during the period January 2019 to December 2022.

“In 2019, 812 persons were paid late and this had risen to 2 148 at 31st December, 2022. The total number of persons receiving late payment on one or more occasion was 6 211 over a five-year period. Based on the current projections, a greater number of persons are likely to be affected in 2023 than in previous years,” he stated. (SC)