Last week, we discussed the salary increases for public servants which we felt did not appear unreasonable, considering that public servants had received a 10% across-the-board increase with effect from 1 July 2015. This means that employees earning below $99,000 would have received a 21% increase since the new Administration took up office. In addition, the minimum wage was increased from $39,950 to $50,000 per month, and a tax-free one-off bonus of $50,000 was granted late last year for employees earning below $500,000 per month. These increases must be viewed in the context of the economy having slowed down considerably because of a clamp-down on drug trafficking and money laundering through the passing of certain amendments to the anti-money laundering legislation, among other actions taken.
We, however, bemoaned the fact that during the period 2013 to 2016, the number of contracted employees have increased by 60%. We had criticized the previous Administration for operating with a parallel public service comprising hand-picked persons, only to witness a continuation of this undesirable practice. An experienced human resources management practitioner pointed out that the table in the article included teachers and police who are not part of the Public Service.
