Hospital secondments let ministries offer top salaries to compete with private sector
To compete with the big salaries of hospital CEOs and top-level executives, Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has been using a controversial system of secondments since 1994 to pay salaries to top bureaucrats that exceed government-set guidelines.
“We need to be competitive with senior salaries in the broader health-care sector so we can attract the very best people,” said Kevin Finnerty, a ministry spokesperson. “We need to give them compensation that’s commensurate with their talent, their dedication, their ability, their experience and, quite frankly, the compensation they’ve been getting in the broader health-care sector.”
Ontario’s Ministry of Government Services sets the recommended pay guidelines for government employees, with the recommended maximum for a deputy minister of $220,150. The salary range for associate and assistant deputies is $148,700 to $188,950.
However, deputy health minister Ron Sapsford is technically on secondment from Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, which pays him $433,612 a year, plus $64,781 in taxable benefits. The ministry repays the hospital for Sapsford’s salary at the end of each year.
The Ministry of Government Services is aware of these arrangements, said Finnerty.
“We could not attract these people to work in the public service based on the Ontario public service salary levels,” he said.
Just because the ministry isn’t breaking any laws, doesn’t make the process honest and transparent, said Chris Bart, founder and principal of The Director’s College, a joint venture of Hamilton’s McMaster University and the Conference Board of Canada.
“The government has invented a process by which they can get around their own rules,” he said.
Instead, the government should have openly stated certain positions, because of a scarcity of talent or the strategic importance of a position, are going to require a higher salary than the average, said Bart.
“There is nothing wrong with an individual being paid above the median of their industry, as long as they have the competencies and skills that deliver above median performance,” he said.
The salaries of the bureaucrats on secondment from hospitals, who earn more than $100,000, are disclosed on the Ontario public sector salary disclosure list, but they’re not easy to find because they’re listed on the hospital salary list, not the ministry list.
“They show up under the places that pay their salaries. We are obliged to adhere to the law the way it’s written,” said Finnerty.
According to the disclosure list, the Ministry of Health isn’t the only ministry making use of this work-around for top talent. And to make it even more difficult, sometimes government titles aren’t listed.
While Sapsford is listed as deputy minister of health and long-term care, Gail Paech, who is an associate deputy minister of economic development and trade, is listed as an assistant in the redevelopment office at the University Health Network, earning $291,997.
And Hugh MacLeod, the premier’s climate change advisor, is listed as deputy director of special projects at the University Health Network, earning $320,696.
“They’ve disclosed, but have they disclosed (the salary) fairly?” said Bart.
But knowing how much public scrutiny there is over government spending, this system might be a way to be transparent while at the same time trying to protect the government from too much criticism, said Judith MacBride-King, principal at research and consulting firm MacBride-King and Associates in Ottawa.
“Isn’t it interesting that they have to go through this and make it transparent but not so transparent so that the public can’t scream at them for having to pay the money they have to pay to get the people in the door they need to get in the door,” she said.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has the largest budget in the government and with that comes a lot of pressure, a challenging work environment and very long hours, said Finnerty, all of which make recruitment especially challenging.
“When we recruit people, we make them quite well aware of the challenges they will face but also that they will have unsurpassed opportunities to make a real difference to creating a sustainable health-care system in this province. I think that’s a real draw as well,” he said.
Governments face several challenges when competing for top talent, the biggest of which is salary, said MacBride-King.
While government pay, across the country, for low- and mid-level positions is very competitive, that changes the further up the ladder you go, she said.
“Particularly at the top, you’re under a microscope, you’re under a lot of pressure. If you want to attract the people with the skills and talent you need, you’ve got to pay for it.”
When recruiting, governments are also challenged with a reputation for being staid and rigid and having a hierarchical structure that isn’t attractive for most workers, especially younger ones, said MacBride-King.
“It’s a pity because I think the public service has been given a bum rap,” she said. “The public sector has to blow up the myths, where there are myths, and where there are real challenges, they have to continue their efforts to enhance the work environment so it is more challenging and more exciting. They also need to brand themselves better. Not a lot of jobs can give you that diversity of opportunity.”
Beyond salary and benefits, it’s important to show candidates the more intrinsic rewards of the job itself, said Liz Wright, human capital group leader at Watson Wyatt in Toronto. For example, government work in the capital markets area is going to be more about research and developing knowledge than the pursuit of “the almighty buck,” she said.
“We have to look beyond what the industry offers to what the role really offers and whether it’s a development opportunity or something that really triggers in that candidate’s mind, ‘This is something I want to do,’ in terms of public service, for instance, versus the private sector, which is all about making a profit,” she said.
