Reporter
Carisa.Lee@cnc3.co.tt
Police are investigating an incident earlier this month at the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Society, where flyers calling for the removal of president Jill De Bourg were plastered around the Fitzblackman Drive, Port-of-Spain compound.
Printed on them were reasons why she should step down. One flyer claimed De Bourg was not a team player and created a toxic work environment.
“We had given you a chance to be our TTRCS president to bring betterment to the society, not to bring it apart,” it read.
In response, De Bourg, who began her tenure as the president in August 2018, described the situation as unfortunate and denied the allegations.
She told Guardian Media that while no workplace is perfect, she was unaware of a “toxic” work environment.
“I think that if people have a problem, or people have an issue, I am always of the approach of how I can fix the problem,” she said.
Guardian Media spoke with at least three former employees of the TTRCS who asked to remain anonymous. They claimed that since De Bourg became president, at least seven employees had left the humanitarian organisation. De Bourg could not confirm this number but admitted there was a high turnover.
The former employees claimed the infringement of personal time, late salary payments, and lack of middle management were among the issues affecting them.
They alleged that De Bourg had blurred the work-life boundaries and contacted employees during vacation leave and after working hours.
“She has called staff up to Saturday morning and Sunday morning at six o’clock in the morning. These are things that can wait, there is absolutely no reason for you to be calling staff at those hours to find out any type of information if their working hours are 8 to 4,” a former employee claimed.
Another former employee alleged that the Employee Handbook says salaries are to be paid by the 25th day of each month but the deadline is frequently missed.
“Every single month staff is getting paid late,” the former employee claimed.
The past workers recounted a team-building exercise on June 21 this year. They said it was a cooking competition that lasted from 9 am to 1 pm. They claimed just when they were about to eat, all staff members were directed by De Bourg to engage in a physically demanding “surprise activity” that lasted for several more hours. This, a former worker said, occurred despite workers pleading for a meal break.
“We had to lift up people, you had to put strength to carry people from point A to point B,” the past employee explained.
The former TTRCS workers said they wrote to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) detailing their complaints, but have not gotten any response.
Guardian Media emailed the IFRC to find out if they received any correspondence from ex-workers but there was no response up to press time.
De Bourg said she planned on meeting with her staff last week to discuss their concerns, as she believes in transparency and accountability. She said some of the information put out by the former employees was skewed but she was willing to listen.
“I am continuously trying to find out where the challenge is, what are the hiccups, why isn’t this working well, what can we do,” she said.
The president admitted salaries are sometimes paid late but she said she tries to ensure that info is shared with staff, as she is not in the office every day. She also admitted to contacting staff outside of working hours but only when necessary.
“I will reach out to an employee to get information, not to do anything...it’s not asking the employee to be present,” she explained.
De Bourg claimed there were deeply rooted issues at the organisation well before she became president. However, she said since joining the TTRCS, the humanitarian organisation has been making positive strides.
