What is going on at the B.C. Lottery Corporation?

I heard through the grapevine that staff turnover was unusually high last year, so I filed a Freedom of Information request for BCLC severance packages paid out over the past three years. The numbers are staggering.

Severance packages doubled from 12 in 2009/10 to 23 in 2010/11 and nearly tripled to 62 in 2011/12.

That’s a startling $353,618 in 2009/10, $624,346 in 2010/11, and $2,519,430 in 2011/12.

The average 2009/10 severance package was $29,468. That dipped slightly to $27,145 in 2010/11 and then jumped to $40,636 in 2011/12.

Six severance packages hit six figures:

1. Scott Norman, VP information technology and CIO, $317,820, 2011/12
2. Elaine Hughston, director enterprise innovation, $205,594, 2011/12
3. Doug Harcott, director gaming systems group, $205,406, 2011/12
4. Roberta Kjelson, manager internal communication and strategic projects, $134,269, 2010/11
5. Andrina Benazic, director internal audit, $110,192, 2009/10
6. Gordon Biglow, director enterprise architecture, $106,330, 2011/12

Looking through the BCLC’s annual reports, it seems employee costs have grown from $76.6 million in 2010/11 to $82.1 million in 2011/12, so it doesn’t seem these exits are saving money in the short term.

In their 2011/12 annual report, BCLC board chairman John McLernon and CEO Michael Graydon alluded to “a commitment to cost management” including a strategy that “revisited our staffing models, resulting in a renewed focus on our core businesses.” Interesting. I wonder what the long term savings will be from that “revisit.” We’re not seeing it yet, but sometimes these things take time to work their way through the system. We’ll keep an eye on it.

For a full list, obtained by the CTF via a Freedom of Information request, click here.