Public Officers Say Performance Reviews Are Being Used as a Weapon

Two public officers are speaking out, claiming that the system meant to measure their work is being used to punish them instead. On Monday, Gerald Henry, who still works in the public service, and retired officer Doreth Obermayer held a quiet protest outside the Ministry of Public Service in Belmopan. They say the rules and performance review system are being misused by department heads to target employees they don’t like, and they believe many others are quietly facing the same treatment. They’re calling it a “weaponization” of the Public Service Regulations. But the Office of the Auditor General, where Henry currently works, says that’s not the case. In a statement, the office said both Henry and Obermayer were flagged because they didn’t agree to follow the professional code of ethics, something required for audit work. Because of that, they weren’t given assignments or performance reviews. The office added that Henry has now been placed on an audit team, hoping this will help improve his evaluation going forward.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The Government of Belize, which employs more than 15,000 public officers, requires that workers be evaluated twice a year. These performance reviews help decide who gets raises, promotions, and other rewards. But now, a senior employee at the Office of the Auditor General is speaking out, claiming the system isn’t fair. He says he received a score of zero on his most recent evaluation and believes the process is flawed. Under public service rules, it’s up to CEOs and department heads to make sure these reviews are done properly. But this latest complaint is raising serious questions about whether the system is being used fairly, or being misused to punish certain employees.

 

Gerald Henry, Public Officer

“We were instructed back in 2022 not to do any work in the Office of the Auditor General, absolutely nothing in October 2022. I can do nothing perfectly. Now our performance appraisal is based on the task that you do, the task assigned to us and how well we do that. That makes sense, so if you assign me a task to do nothing and I do nothing perfectly then my appraisal should reflect that, which is ten. Both myself and my colleague and another colleague of hours, we got zeros. But the thing is that the appraisal scale goes from one to ten, so how can I get a zero if the grade starts from one, and what motivates that individual, who happens to be the auditor general to give us that grade, because she was the supervisor who gave us that grade.”

 

The Office of the Auditor General is pushing back after Monday’s protest, saying Gerald Henry and retired officer Doreth Obermayer were flagged as “audit risks.” Why? According to the office, they refused to follow the professional code of ethics required for auditors. Because of that, previous management decided they couldn’t be trusted with audit assignments and since they weren’t doing audit work, they weren’t eligible for performance reviews either. And there’s more. Earlier this year, Henry applied for a promotion to become Supervisor of Audit. But his application was turned down.

 

Gerald Henry

“I believe that a lot of public officers are suffering in silence. I spoke to a lot of public officers and they told me that they are going through the same thing. I think that anyone who sacrificed to get their master’s degree, because it is not easy, a masters from UWI is not easy. So if I had to sacrifice, all that I went through was to achieve that. The reason I did that was to get promoted, elevated in the job. I didn’t do it for any other reason on that.”

 

While the union talks with the government are a separate issue, there’s a new twist; the government now wants to link salary increases and increments to performance reviews. But retired public officer Doreth Obermayer isn’t buying it. She says supervisors often use the appraisal system to punish workers they don’t like. Obermayer joined Gerald Henry in Monday’s protest to make that point loud and clear.

 

Doreth Obermayer, Retired Public Officer

“We are starting with our office and extending the invitation to other public officers who feel that injustices have been done to them, be it by the Public Service Regulations, whereby it is being used as a weapon against other public officer. So if you are not in cohort with your supervisor then the first thing they say to you, your PR is going to pay for that. Then there are other injustices as it relates to promotions where you would have completed all the necessary requirements. You have the qualification, the years of service, but because you are not in support of the injustice or the wrong things that have been done then your promotion is thrown out, put aside or not even considered.”

 

Henry and Obermayer say they will continue to picket until they believe their concerns have been adequately addressed. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.