Accountant General on administrative leave

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Bermuda’s Accountant General has been placed on administrative leave, it was confirmed yesterday.

A spokesman for the Bermuda Public Services Union was aware that Joyce Hayward, who holds the post, was on leave, but could not comment further.

Administrative leave is temporary leave from a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact, and normally it is a procedures used for public service employees as well as those who work in schools, for the police and or hospitals, but not usually in corporate institutions. An employee may be placed on administrative leave if an allegation of misconduct has been made against them, and it gives an opportunity for an investigation into it.

Donald Scott, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, Anthony Manders, Chief Financial Secretary and Mrs. Hayward’s immediate superior, and Mrs Hayward would not make any comment for this story.

According to acgtech@gov.bm the Accountant General’s Department is responsible for all monies paid into or out of the Bermuda Government and monitors the funds flowing throughout all government accounts. They also manage working capital to ensure the Government is ‘sufficiently liquid to cover all operating expenditures whilst at the same time maximising Government’s return on its cash holdings, according to the website.

The Royal Gazette had asked Mr Manders the following questions in regard to Mrs Hayward and her placement on administrative leave. They included:

For what reason has Mrs Hayward been put on administrative leave?

Are any other parties being investigated for any role in this matter?

If so, who are they? And what steps have been taken in regard to that/those individuals?

How long do you expect the investigation process into this matter to take?

Is it appropriate for a senior civil servant such as Mrs Hayward to be put on administrative leave for a matter such as this, so close to an election?

Who has been appointed to act as interim accountant general?

In the event of a change of government, how able will that person be to advise a Finance Minister after two weeks on the job?

How long will that appointment be expected to last?

According to Mrs Hayward’s biography on www.gov.bm, she became Accountant General in 2005. She started working for the Bermuda Government in December 2000 as a management accountant, and had managed her own CPA practice in Maryland for ten years before moving to Bermuda.

Mrs Hayward, who lives in St. George’s, is also an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

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