Former UTT staff told: Retrenchment pay coming soon

SOME 200 former employees of the University of TT (UTT) who were retrenched in August have been told they will receive their remaining severance payments soon.

The former staff threatened to take legal action over the non-payment of their severance benefits.

In a letter to them, acting president of the UTT Prof Prakash Persad told them the timeline for the possible disbursement of the 25 per cent still owing to them was being held up by the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR).

Persad said exemption applications had been submitted to the BIR on their behalf and after discussions, an approach had been identified, once there is approval from the BIR, for the university to release the money.

He added that “where successful, outstanding disbursements will be credited directly to the individual’s account based on the revised severance benefit as communicated to each former employee by letter dated November 28, 2019.”

Former staff were advised not to go directly to the BIR seeking tax refunds, and a further update will be given to them by Friday.

The former UTT staff are represented by attorney Gerald Ramdeen.

The group said their jobs were terminated by reason of redundancy, and they were told, based on continuous service, their total severance amounts will be paid subject to the determination of the Board of Inland Revenue on any tax deductions.

They said in November, they received a payment of 75 per cent.

The former employees said the university had no lawful authority to retain any money, and the 25 per cent remainder should have been paid at that time.