Sagicor Life Jamaica is losing at least one of its top executives, amid swirling rumours of a fallout in the company that has been denied by key players, who say the issue is complicated.

Bernita Locke, vice-president of human resources, confirmed last night that she would be departing the company, Jamaica's largest life insurance firm, but refused comment on the reasons for the split, saying the matter could become explosive.

"I will be leaving on a point of principle," Locke told Wednesday Business, "but it has nothing to do with performance."

Any details on why, she said, would have to come from the head of the stream.

But her boss, president and chief executive officer Richard Byles, was even more terse.

'No comment'

"No comment," he said to each question posed last night.

Locke would not say her date of departure, but she also dismissed reports that another top executive is also heading out the door.

That person, "to the best of my knowledge," she said, is on leave and due back at work on Monday.

A person inside the company, with knowledge of the issue, but who asked not to be named, said it was "not true" that anyone had been fired.

Locke said there is no acrimony between her and Byles over the issue, telling Wednesday Business that her soon to be former boss has consistently given her good performance reviews.

Locke has been with the company since 1995, joining then Life of Jamaica as senior administrative manager for human resources, and was promoted to assistant vice-president in 1996.

Nine years later, in January 2005, she was appointed to her current post, and has become one of the faces of the organisation. The company was rebranded Sagicor Life last year.

This current upheaval comes at an inopportune time for Byles, who is already having to face down his staff and unions about his controversial move to impose a 'pay for performance' scheme in his company that would match salary with outcomes.

Even some members of his management team are said to be concerned that the move could end up demotivating staff, inside sources say.

Byles, in an interview in February, said the scheme would also become the basis on which he would be cutting staff, saying it would be a more equitable system for job cuts that might be required in a year when business was expected to decline alongside the economy.

Pay for performance

Byles

The new pay scheme, which initially does not include executives, is now being phased in, starting with some 100 former Blue Cross of Jamaica employees who were rehired only if they signed on to the scheme.

Sagicor Jamaica acquired the health insurance portfolio of Blue Cross of Jamaica in December for $1.7 billion, giving it command of more than 80 per cent of the health insurance market.

Locke was evasive when asked if the pay for performance issue was a factor in her departure, saying it was "nearer to that" but refused to clarify the statement further.

Byles again said "no comment."

lavern.clarke@gleanerjm.com