Industrial relations consultant, Robert Giuseppi believes that Jearlean John, Managing Director of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has nothing to be worried about if she didn’t commit any acts of wrongdoing during her tenure at the HDC.
John and several other managers were sent on administrative leave last Thursday, pending an audit of the organization. “If Miss John has done nothing wrong, then she has nothing to defend herself against”, he told the Guardian.
The newly installed Board of Directors of the HDC sent John and several top managers on three months’ administrative leave. The board headed by Newman George, met for the first time last week and also ordered an internal audit of the corporation. John, opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and former Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal have all slammed the actions of the new board as political and a witchhunt.
But, more generally, can an audit allied to administrative leave turn into a fishing expedition to try to find wrongdoing?
“In theory if an employer conjures up something in order to make it look like the employee did something wrong, then that employee should be worried” he told the Guardian yesterday.
Giuseppi, who has spent decades practicing industrial relations is also a former head of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) which is an association of some of the country's largest trade unions.
Giuseppi said employers usually send an employee on “administrative leave” before they begin an investigation into the person's conduct and performance in the workplace. Employers must then give the employee a time period during which they can respond to the allegations.
“During this time period the employer can go ahead with their investigations. Let us say that it is a 'miserable' employee, this person is sent away from the workplace. The employers do not want trouble so you are also given pay with your time away from the workplace. Therefore the employers will be able to do their investigation and hounding without the employee's interference. They do not want the employee around as he or she will in some way interfere in the process,” he said.
At the end of the administrative leave, the employer must then inform the employee of the findings of the investigation after which the employee has a chance to defend himself or herself.
“During the process, the employee can bring in their legal representative to defend against the allegations. If the employee is found guilty then disciplinary actions are then followed,” he said. He said the realities of T&T are that at times there is political interference in sound industrial relations principles in the workplace especially at state run organizations.
He added that when a new government takes office it always makes the argument that their own supporters are better able to run the state owned organization and so get rid of those who are in the job.