Civil servants still unimpressed with pay

| 19/07/2021 | 127 Comments
Cayman News Service
Government Administration Building, Elgin Ave

(CNS): The 2020 civil service survey has revealed that of the 83% of government workers who took part, only 42% are satisfied with their pay. Despite the cost of living allowance rolled out in January last year, there was only a 7% increase in public servants who said they were happy with their pay and benefits. But although the majority feel underpaid and the civil service as a whole has just gone through one of the most challenging years in history with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey showed that 89% were proud to be civil servants.

The survey results are outlined in the Portfolio of the Civil Service’s annual report, which was tabled in Parliament this week.

One of around 30 annual and financial reports that government departments have been sitting on that have now been made public, the PoCS report revealed that there are more than 4,000 people working in the civil service and 3,428 of them took part in the Employee Engagement Survey, which was conducted in the last quarter of 2020. While many of the categories that government employees were questioned about showed improvements, the pay and reward question still had the most negative response.

“Addressing this area remains a priority for the CIG and, in 2021, PoCS intends to conclude the review of our pay strategy and will make recommendations for change, for consideration by the Deputy Governor,” PoCS Chief Officer Gloria McField-Nixon said in the report.

Over the year the portfolio also supported changes to the Personnel Regulations, including an increase in the annual leave entitlement for staff on the lowest grades R, GAA and GBB, to bring those employees in line with staff on the next tier.

“This was done to ensure that all Civil Servants receive a minimum annual leave entitlement of 18 working days per annum and the change impacted approximately 298 employees, of which 80% were Caymanian,” the chief officer noted.

A review of rewards and remuneration started in early 2020 but it was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some progress was made at the end of the year when the leave benefits were addressed, which has seen some of the lowest paid government workers get an additional six days paid annual leave.

Cabinet has also approved a new salary scale for the top earners, implemented on 1 January this year, which introduced changes to salary Grades A through D to reduce overlap within those grades and ensure that “remuneration remains competitive and reflects the gravity of responsibilities for roles, particularly those at the most senior levels”, the report stated. A review of the remaining salary grades is ongoing.

The survey also asked the civil service how well they thought the Cayman Islands Government handled the COVID-19 crisis locally. 89% of respondents felt the CIG managed the response well. 90% said they had the necessary communication with their manager and peers to successfully work remotely and had contributed to getting the country through, while 86% reported having the necessary tools to work remotely.

96% of those who took part also said they were interested in their work. While there was an increase in favourability about how government workers felt about management and their direct bosses, only 56% said they were happy about leadership and managing change.

See the POCS annual report in the CNS Library.


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Category: Government Administration, Politics

Comments (127)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    They literally get paid to sit and underperform.

    • Anonymous says:

      One of the areas that need to be looked at is salaries for teaching staff at UCCI, in particular adjunct faculty.

      For those unaware, “adjuncts” are part-time faculty who get no benefits such as health insurance or pensions. So they are cheap labour.

      As far as I am aware, adjuncts (and they are n plentiful supply at UCCi) were making $50 per teaching hour in the 1990s. I understand that the per-hour rate was slashed to $40 in the 90’s recession as a cost-saving measure, to $40.

      In last year’s salary revision adjunct salaries were raised to something like $46 per hours—please correct if in error.

      If that is true, adjuncts are still paid less than the assessed value in the 1990s, with no accounting for cost-of-living increases.

      How could this be right?

      If these figures are correct for adjuncts, I would be willing to wager that the same percentages and cost-of-living lag hold for full-time faculty.

      The authorities can also put the record straight on that if not correct.

      Looks like teachers still getting the shaft that follows them around like a bad penny no matter the interventions.

      If this is all correct, It is more than a crying shame. It is a national disgrace and shows a total lack of regard for the educational well being of the future generation.

      • Anonymous says:

        The President & CEO of UCCI will be the person in demand for quotes whenever a story breaks, whether that be positive or negative…..

  2. Anonymous says:

    Almost every civil servant has a private business or two. Much less stressful to be an entrepreneur if your income including pension and medical are already covered by your government job. No leadership under Franz he is too busy planning the next photo-op.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I wish SAGC’s (statutory authorities) would get a chance to do this survey! Only deemed civil servants when it benefits them but when we need to voice our opinion apparently we’re just not civil servants…someone please explain!!

  4. truth says:

    The pay rises if any should be like this people on the bottom 10% raise the middle 5% and the top 1% lets see if they would do that! then we can see if they love this country or not.

  5. Elvis says:

    The co il servant pY is fine if the truth be known.
    I am very grateful of mine and i work hard for it too.
    The problem is indirect taxation by greedy vendors making it almost impossible to shop without a tear in my eye,
    Greed all round.

  6. Anonymous says:

    I wish CNS would do an article on:

    “While there was an increase in favourability about how government workers felt about management and their direct bosses, only 56% said they were happy about leadership and managing change.”

    As a CS, I wouldn’t complain about the salary because like most people commented before, CS still have a job with benefits in a pandemic!

    Leadership and Change Management by direct bosses/line managers suck because who has time to read the new regulations? Why is it that so many enjoy their job yet the general public is not pleased with the CS? I wish there was a way to assess productivity in COVID-19 because I am sure, I had more time to focus being away from the workplace. Back to work and wonder why I bother going 😴😴

    Someone mentioned the multiple Directors, Deputies, Acting Deputies, etc. Explain why we need so many of them again.

    • Anonymous says:

      Everybody knows that the bosses in Gov are predominantly useless. Unfortunately, Gov seems to prioritise time spent working as a CS over their actual capability.

      Check out CIMA by way of example, almost all the heads of departments are life long CIMA workers – and most have very little if no experience working in the private sector (Cindy for example has literally only worked at CIMA). As a result, most are completly disconnected from reality.

      • Anonymous says:

        8.58am Wrong about Cindy. She worked at Butterfield also.

      • Anonymous says:

        CIMA is not CS. Also, most of the heads and deputies at CIMA are quite new with extensive private sector and overseas experience. not saying there are no issues but check your facts before you post.

        • Anonymous says:

          CIMA is a joke, and Cindy is deadwood. She has been with CIMA or it’s predecessor since 1991…

          in three decades she has made CIMA into the world class regulatory body that every other jurisdiction looks to… oh snap!

    • Anonymous says:

      CS bosses are so afraid of holding anyone accountable or can’t be bothered to hold anyone accountable (not sure which is the problem but the result is the same) which results in a lot of civil service workers not doing their job because they know nothing will happen to them and the few cs who actually care (there are some) end up leaving after a year or two because they are tired of picking up the coworkers’ slack

  7. Anonymous says:

    go read conclusions and recommendations of miller-shaw and e&y reports….thats all anybody needs to know.
    btw please audit their performance during covid lockdown.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Bet the remaining selfish anti vax hold outs are disproportionately these same folks so upset with their entitlements.

  9. Anonymous says:

    The government would need to cut about 30% of their workforce to provide any additional benefits to the remaining staff members. While I don’t think a significant cut is practical I do believe that the government is top heavy and could do without many of the people that hold management positions.

  10. Beaumont Zodecloun says:

    Throughout lockdown and the alphabet days, most of Civil Service was operating on the front line. During the phased interisland reopening, they were on the front line. Yes, they were paid full benefit throughout that time. I think it balances.

    I appreciate them. I wouldn’t choose most of their jobs, nor work environment. It’s a tight group for good reason.

    That said, I think CS should be grateful for their current pay. I know several people who are out of work or on lesser pay than before the pandemic.

    It’s been a difficult year for those in the CS, with changing rules and responsibilities and the ever-present incoming packages SNAFUs they’ve been wrangling. The CS has really stepped up in working with Travel Cayman and all the various additional tasks related. I think they have helped keep us safe, and for that they all have my respect.

    • Anonymous says:

      “Throughout lockdown and the alphabet days, most of Civil Service was operating on the front line.”

      LOL. No they weren’t not even close. We have 6500 public sector workers of whom 4000 are civil servants. Of those 4000 almost none are “front line”. Most of the 2500 non-CS are not “front line” either. What a load of twaddle. As usual.

  11. Anonymous says:

    In order for Civil Servants to understand most are not underpaid they should add 1000 to 2000 to their salary amount to get the true picture. Those are examples of the amounts private sector workers pay for Pension & Health Ins monthly. Retirees on 1000.00 a month pay most of that for mediocre insurance.

  12. Anonymous says:

    In other news, turkeys don’t like thanksgiving. Yaaaawwwn.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Ok, time to lift the curtain….please find your seats, bear with us, and get comfortable. The play is about to begin.

    Maybe people should bully private sector businesses to pay employees living wages, instead of hiring cheap labour from abroad to take their place and call it being competitive in the marketplace. Trust me, a good portion of the money business owners classify as “operational expenses” that they aren’t paying you are used purely as personal spending money for themselves. How much just depends on the business structure and the kind of people you work for. Just being honest.

    For example, you all as employees make $10 for the day. The owner takes at least $6 for basically gatekeeping, micromanaging you like you don’t know how to do your job (basically calling you stupid) and watching you all day. Meanwhile, you all do the hard work of actually bringing in the $10 for your employee share of $4. Everyone should receive a fair slice for a honest day’s work. However, that is not always what is happening. If you need $2 for the day to feed your children and someone else is willing to take $1, who do you think the boss is keeping when employees become unruly over unfair wages? The cheaper mule! Who is really competing here?

    You pay for cheap labor in one way or the next, my friends. People should point fingers at the foreign cheap labourers and the business owners (both local and foreign) that cherish them so much for basically participating in slavery, over paying you your dues in full. There is a reason why cheap labour is often called ‘slave labour’. Foreign cheap labourers will not simply stay in these roles forever and loyalty will eventually run out. Just so you know.

    Honestly, I would not fully blame the government. They can only ensure that you are being paid something for your work (labour laws). The amount squarely falls on the owner, management and you to negotiate.

    Most business owners intimidate the government behind the scenes, unknown to most but apparent to the savvy. They bully government leaders with threats to leave, threaten the leaders personally, or some other leverage tactic about destabilising the economy or spreading bad tourism press about the country abroad to get their way. As a result, they actually keep government away from fighting and legislating for a reasonable wage/salary for YOU and holding YOUR boss accountable for THEIR actions.

    Meanwhile, owners brainwash employees into financial Stockholm Syndrome and paint the government as the bad guy, when the government is actually just trying to help you out of your slaveholder’s oppression and prevent your capture for ransom from happening again. Who would have thought of that? Let that sink in.

    And yes, this is not just happening in Cayman. Looking at Uncle Sam for the past 4 years as the big kahuna…..wonder why so many are resigning from their jobs and increasingly more jobs remain unfilled over there? Just a hunch….name and shame them for the world to see if necessary.

    A honest take from someone who isn’t a civil servant.

    • Anonymous says:

      I work as in the consulting part of professional services. I do not earn a a salary. In this COVID world I earn half of my previous fees while paying incompetent people overseas to perform at substandard levels of competence. My “post COVID” income barely pays the rent anymore. We have been asked multiple times to bid on government contracts, the only criteria is is to be the cheapest. Competent professional advice is not given any weight.

      • Anonymous says:

        The application process to bid is so cumbersome that I’d rather work for the private sector than waste my time in that red tape

    • Anonymous says:

      The jealously of our civil service is staggering. But the numbers don’t lie.

      Thank you CIG and civil servants you even make the lives of our negative posters better. One day soon they will admit it.

      • Anonymous says:

        The numbers don’t lie? What are you talking about – its a survey of civil servants as to how they feel about their employment – has zero to do with independent evaluation of how well they do their job.

    • Anonymous says:

      LOL…attack of the dislikes. One could argue….TRIGGERED!!!🤬😤🥶

  14. Lara says:

    Fire a few of the least productive employees like how it works in the private sector. And then redo the survey.

    • Anonymous says:

      Problem is, the least productive ones are the ones who hold the power to do the firing!

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes but why are the people at the DVDL rude and slow? I’m sure they don’t hold a manager position.

        • Anonymous says:

          They really are. In the last few weeks I’ve had to deal with Customs, WORC and DVDL. Customs and WORC couldn’t have been more helpful and pleasant to deal with. DVDL are a joke; it’s like they’re deliberately working slow and in your face with it. DVDL manangement has lost control.

        • Anonymous says:

          Because you are going to the one for GT (near Grand Harbor), yes?
          Try another location. I have had brilliant service elsewhere. Try WB…

    • Anonymous says:

      Absolutely. The underperformance of the individuals in so many of the roles in CIG would not be tolerated in the private sector.
      Talk about roles for life. Is there anything that can actually get someone fired from CIG?

    • Anonymous says:

      WRONG Lara. Where I work the least product are a group that keeps us savvy with the labor board…
      Always on a school run, lunch run, breakfast run, coffee run, cig run…

      Not ALL of them but the it’s the ‘worker’ bees that are the doing-a-run bees.

  15. Sad but true says:

    Could Mr Manderson call his department and see if he can find someone that answers their phone?.

    • Anonymous says:

      5:27 I bet you dialed the wrong number.

    • Anonymous says:

      Even if you can get someone to answer the phone, they won’t even pretend to do something until you actually physically turn up there (if they happen to be open)

    • Anonymous says:

      Try looking closer at Franz himself, analyze his job performance, management skills and general behavior. Start there and you will find clear answers to CS issues.

      • Anonymous says:

        9;12 oh oh did our DG hold your accountable? Under his leadership our civil service has preformed at its highest level especially during the pandemic.

        jealously is a real bad thing.

        I asked the DG one day why he had haters. His response “if I didn’t have haters one would wonder if I am really doing my job”. bam!

        leave our DG alone.

      • Anonymous says:

        9;12 Shouldn’t you be pretending to work?

        It is clear to me that you don’t know Mr Manderson.

      • Anonymous says:

        He does run an awesome 5k.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Humpf! 7% pay increase for cost of living… I’d take that. Quicherbichin
    I work for one of the largest law/finance companies on island (take a guess). We got ROOKED this year with not even a measly cost of living increase. Due to ‘The Covid’ of course, which is really just a lame excuse not to give a pay increase to your staff that helped keep the profits rolling in while WFH…

    At least that’s what the entire staff believes.

    • Anonymous says:

      Bet your salary is alot higher…

    • Proudcivilservant says:

      5:24. I feel your pain. Its time to join the civil service and work for an employer that actually cares about its employees.

      • Anonymous says:

        7.01am I tried to join CS but they don’t want anyone that works hard and doesn’t want to “work from home” or take 3-6 months sick leave periodically.

      • Anonymous says:

        Shame they dont give a toss about their customers.

      • Anonymous says:

        An employer who cares about their votes you mean. In a jurisdiction where you need a couple of hundred votes to win a seat, no MLA can afford to tackle any real issues and risk upsetting even a fraction of 6500 people!

    • Anonymous says:

      Another of the largest, most talked about employers on island hasn’t given a cost of living increase to their employees in 4 years and kept raises to a minimum, despite reporting record sales!

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, I have heard this thru friends that work there. Glad I wrote them off as a potential employer 10 years ago. At one time I was on the fence about that. Then as it happened, I couldn’t get an interview for a position I qualified for, LOL, which turned out to be my saving grace.
        I landed on my feet in a much better place that I am able to move up in. I have been promoted twice.
        I am Caymanian.

  17. Anonymous says:

    We are equally unimpressed with the civil service stinking attitudes, slow ass service and no replies to emails. Dont even get me started about answering the phone.

    • Anonymous says:

      And the websites that have been designed to streamline processes are a joke! The look and function like they were created by an intern!

  18. Anonymous says:

    No value for money.

  19. Rescinded the 20% political bribe says:

    Check Franz bout dat he and Alden gave themselves a very healthy 20% pay rise prior to this election this election I dare Pact to take it away ! From the senior civil servants and give to regular civil servants. I guess a shootout inside the GOAB would probably happen. What a bunch of disgusting bunch eh!

  20. Anonymous says:

    In Cayman the civil service is same as social services…problem is all the time I have to deal with them and their attitudes whenever I need to get business done. I had to go down to pay a bill once…..person couldn’t look up my companies account and needed invoice number to attache to remittance….I told her how antiquated that is and she intentionally applied my payment elsewhere….she must be very proud of her contribution.

    • Proudcivilservant says:

      Ungrateful comments. Who kept us safe during covid.. civil servants.
      I know private sector workers who refused to leave their homes. But our brave Civil servants were on the front line.

      Who is arresting these killers while you run for cover. Civil servants

      Who is at the airport checking in COVID-19 positive travellers. Civil servants.

      Who has managed travel Cayman and achieved 1 year of no community transmission. Civil servants.

      Give our world class civil servants a raise and bonuses like the private sector, who repeats the benefits of civil servants Exemplary performance.

      For the last time Off reg is not part of our world class civil service.

      Stop being jealous of our civil servants.

    • Timmy says:

      These numbers are absolutely best in class. I congratulate the civil service.

      Most civil services around the world would only dream of these results. The UK for example scores well below Cayman.

      We are truly blessed to be served by CIG.

      • Anonymous says:

        I mean, that simply isn’t true. Passports delivered to Cayman in less than 2 weeks (application to delivery, not just postage), DVLA use passport photos for your driving license to save admin, tax rebates automatically posted to you, even in Cayman (although good luck finding any absolute philistine capable of cashing it on this backwards financial centre).

        Civil Service on this island needs a hard slap.

      • Anonymous says:

        You’re joking right? You could get a new passport and a new drivers license online from the uk shipped to cayman quicker than you can get anyone in the cayman civil service to answer a phone or reply to an email. And that’s not an exaggeration.

    • Anonymous says:

      The rampant moonlighting is what really gets me.

      No where else in the developed world would this be allowed.

      • Proudcivilservant says:

        5:30. Explain why Caymanian civil servants who earn much less than those in the whacky private sector shouldn’t be able to work a 2nd job to support their families.

        Shame on you.

        • Anonymous says:

          Because your employer is paying you for those hours? And working for yourself during time they have already paid you to be working for them is fundamentally dishonest?

      • Anonymous says:

        Yes and everywhere else in the developed world you would pay taxes.

        And you wouldn’t expect to be in an elevated place in someone else’s country.

      • Anonymous says:

        And stealing overtime. Coming in late. 3pm in the day my office is empty. Everybody gone.

      • Anonymous says:

        …and they are fully aware of this as well. That is exactly why they are so emboldened to behave so poorly. No consequences but stern looks if at all. They just laugh it off like they actually accomplished something in life. Only lowlifes conduct themselves like this.

    • Jay says:

      3:12 I suspect that happened in the 1980’s. Today the majority of Civil Service business is done on line.

      Or maybe you can’t understand online payments.

      Thank you CIG.

      • Anonymous says:

        So Jay, time to fire some civil servants. What are they all doing if everything is online?

        Why do we hire more civil servants every year?

      • Anonymous says:

        Have you tried to pay online or use any of the online facilities? An absolute joke!

    • Anonymous says:

      This happens all the time and there isn’t anyone to report it to because no one actually cares

  21. Anonymous says:

    What pisses me off is that those of us who turn up to work early everyday and do our god&**% job and more, get tarred by those that were hired because they are so and so’s friend. Duck!

    • Anonymous says:

      That must be a kicker working in there and being one of the people who actually does do their work, have a good work ethic. Are you continually pulled down for making the others look bad by being good at what you do?

  22. Anonymous says:

    Nobody is impressed with their pay until they can make more than their wife can spend.

  23. Anonymous says:

    General public still unimpressed by Civil Service.

  24. Anonymous says:

    I would like to repeat this statement from a previous post:

    From the recently tabled the SPS document:
    “The results of healthcare liability actuarial valuation, completed in April 2021, estimated the post-retirement healthcare obligation as at 31 December 2020 to be $2.4 billion with the post retirement medical expense totaling $184.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2020. The post-retirement healthcare obligation and related expenditure have not been formally recognised in the Statements of Financial Position and Performance”

    I believe that most Civil Servants are hard-working competent and caring individuals. However, when looking at their pay they completely choose to ignore the benefits that they have coming to them now and especially AFTER retirement.

    To the best of my knowledge government does not have $2.4 billion in a savings account anywhere, and the $180 million paid for medical last year came from taxing the rest of us. And future generations will be taxed to get the $2.4 billion to pay for post-retirement healthcare for Civil Servants.

    If I retire tomorrow my post-retirement government-mandated monthly (private) health insurance premium will be three times the monthly maximum amount that I am allowed to withdraw from my government-mandated (private) pension plan. If you’re a Civil Servant think about that and your free lifetime healthcare coverage when you’re expressing dissatisfaction with your take-home pay!

  25. JTB says:

    Granted many civil servants are underpaid according to comparison with the private sector – but it’s important to bear in mind that civil servants have increased job security, free health care, and are in many cases otherwise unemployable.

  26. Neverwannabeacivilservant says:

    So Cabinet has increased the salaries of the top Civil Servants, having just feathered their own nests, surprise!, surprise!.Next will be increases for the foot soldiers, all this follows a traditional pattern, illustrating how Government has always pandered to what is by far the biggest voting bloc in the Islands. What we can be sure of is addition to salary increases, the numbers of civil servants will continue to increase, another part of the pattern.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Also, tourism in the island is literally still decimated and these people on full salary, comp, pension & healthcare are still complaining about their salary being too small.

    Please.

  28. Anonymous says:

    L.
    M.
    A.
    O.

    Its like people on benefits complaining they are not recieving enough benefits. Please…. maybe we would have some sympathy for you if you actually worked.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Safe money and fire expensive civil servants that are incompetent start at the top with CoP Byrnes, Eric Bush, Stran Boden, Yearwood at hsa plus all management at ofreg

    • Anonymous says:

      2:31 are you okay? You might want to call Ms Yearwood and seek the services of the mental health unit.

      You mean you don’t know that HSA staff and Offreg are not part of our amazing civil service.

      Who is Stran Boden?

      Could it be Stran Bodden who in 2019 brought 500k tourists to the islands.

      Shut up! Big up Caymanians

      • Anonymous says:

        19@9:14pm – “Stran Bodden brought 500K tourists to the islands…”!! WTF are you smoking or drinking? The professionals in the tourism industry + repeat visitors are responsible for those tourists numbers, and Stran Bodden isn’t in either category.

  30. Anonymous says:

    They really have nothing to complain about. Their salaries were never in jeopardy despite the “pandemic”. They have fully paid pension and health insurance coverage for themselves and immediate family members, which that alone eats up over $1k of my monthly private sector salary and I am earning less than $5k (gross) per month with 2 dependents. HSA is no prize but when they go there, they don’t pay a dollar. I didn’t get a 7% pay increase last year, the year before, or the year before that and when I did, it was not 7%, but less. My employer has not promised me a bonus this December. (that is discretionary) You get 25+ paid sick days per annum, plus vacation of at least 18 days. You get to work when you get there, no repercussion for tardiness. You eat lunch whenever you want, for however long you want. You can wear flip flops to work and turn up like you just rolled out of bed, no questions asked. It may sound like I am hating but these things are so obvious to everyone on the outside in the real employment world. BOOHOO…. I need me a civil service job.

  31. Anonymous says:

    I’m sorry but you all got pay increases last year and do not contribute to health insurance or pension yet receive benefits for both. If you’re so unsatisfied I suggest going for a job in the private sector and seeing if you get anywhere near the same pay and benefits for the job you actually do.

  32. Anonymous says:

    It’s not the relatively few on the top grades ( A-D) that need an increase despite the BS reasons given. Despite what disgruntled posters on CNS think, the vast majority on the lower grades do not earn high salaries. Ms McField-Nixon should publish information which clearly demonstrates this fact.

  33. Anonymous says:

    Civil servants still unimpressed with pay

    Now there’s a surprise.

  34. Anonymous says:

    Pay increase should be based on performance. From many years observing civil servants at work I would say most of them don’t even earn what they are making now. Try getting one to answer their phone.

  35. Angus says:

    survey showed that 89% were proud to be civil servants.

    Wow this is an amazing achievement for our civil service.

    I expect that many private sector companies would dare not run such a survey for their staff. Even though their staff are paid handsomely.

    It really proves the point that if you treat your staff well they will work hard and be proud to work for you.

    Kudos to CIG. 83% take up rate is world class.

    Who are we going to blame for these outstanding achievements?

  36. We Need help says:

    Allow a pension withdrawal for civil servants based on years of service. It was unfair to allow the whole private sector to withdraw their pension when there were many who still had jobs which was the argument against the civil service being allowed to access their pensions. You had accountants and lawyers getting over 100K in pension and they still had jobs. We should all be treated fairly. We need to be given an opportunity to catch up with cost of living and a lump some is needed. It can be pension withdrawal or based on years of service it can be a percentage of your yearly salary. For example, 10 plus years 50% of your yearly salary. Neither pension withdrawal or half salary should apply to those at grades A to D. After the lump some payment, a salary adjustment should made in accordance with the POCS review. That should bring some relief. Plus the Minister of Finance when in opposition encouraged the private sector to raid the pension. Well if he speaks of reform well this is a chance to allow us to obtain some benefit while reforming the system. Many are suffering in silence no matter how things appear or what you think if civil servants. Many many perform even with the hardship.

    • Anonymous says:

      @ 1:47pm Maybe when you start paying pension then you can dictate getting to withdraw it.

      • Anonymous says:

        You should be a bit kinder to anyone asking for a “lump some”, or at least offer dim sum instead.

  37. Anonymous says:

    Can we have a survey of those not employed in the civil service on the value for money and efficiency of the civil service?

  38. Anonymous says:

    some of the best paid on island for little no no productivity lol

  39. Anonymous says:

    They can top it up from their side business, no worries.

  40. Anonymous says:

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  41. Anonymous says:

    Unfortunately over-employment and “satisfactory” compensation do not go hand-in-hand

  42. Anonymous says:

    News flash. CS will be unhappy no matter what because they just want to get paid to do nothing.

  43. Anonymous says:

    Boo hoo. Is that why NO ONE answers the phone in government?!

    Or, is that why some civil servants have started asking me for my name when I call to ask for basic information?

    News flash: it’s none of your business what my name, email or phone number is when I have simply called to find out contact information for a government department.

    I will support better pay for civil servants when they do a better job.

    • Anonymous says:

      CIG is overrun with foreigners on government contracts who are not willing to do anything well they are not being handsomely compensated for, in their minds.

      The lazy ones piggyback off and take credit for the work done by the honest hard-working ones. It happens in both private and public sector business, but private sector conveniently has amnesia while they point fingers at CIG. All you need to know to connect the dots.

      • Anonymous says:

        So much to say. I am the original poster.

        There is a time and a place for debates about government contract workers (RCIPS anyone?), but, I think you missed the point.

        The civil servants I referred to in the post are Caymanians. I know because I worked with them when I worked for government. So, when I say that I will support better pay for civil servants when they do a better job, I speak from experience of ‘working’ with them and now, dealing with them as a member of the public.

        Normally, I would complain to the ministry responsible for their piss poor performance, but, in this instance, I am referring to ministry staff. Their chief officer is a huge part of the problem and has never done anything to address the rampant incompetence and corruption in his ministry and various departments. He certainly does not care if they answer the phone because I have complained to him about ad nauseum.

        As I have been saying, there is no recourse for any one to complain about maladministration, poor performance, requesting unnecessary personal information, incompetence, corruption or any of the multitude of issues going on in Cayman. There are supposed to be avenues, but, it appears to me that those entities are in bed with the powers that be.
        I do not think that there will be any change until the dinosaurs in ex officio capacities and chief officer positions are removed.

        When there are young, new, less corrupt people, willing to hold civil servants to account for calling in sick because of the rain (true stories), we will begin to see change.

  44. Anonymous says:

    These guys are out to lunch… good pay, job security despite low productivity and their pension and healthcare benefits may just result in the collapse of the Cayman economy in 15-20 years.

    Rampant moonlighting and low-scale corruption abounds with nothing being done about it.

    Civil service has had it relatively easy dealing with Covid-19 compared to other workers, but sure complain you aren’t getting enough…

    Who is going to pay for your raise?

  45. Anonymous says:

    Those poor workers, with all the sweet benefits and slack work environment they now need more money. Give them all a huge raise. Sorry to put you all thru this awful condition.

  46. Anonymous says:

    Whilst it is easy to comment on how ungrateful some of these staff are, as they also have CINICO and pension paid, a cost everyone else has to take on the chin, this is probably more a reaction to the reduction in buying power when it comes to land and property.

    Also, 4% of respondents who have no interest in their work is hilarious. It’s at least 20%.

  47. Anonymous says:

    This CNS article refers variously to “government workers”, “public servants” and civil servants”. Actually, not all the same category per the public categorizations. So, I gather the article refers solely to employees of public services departments of “central” Government, because “Civil Servants” also applies to some employees of some SAGCs (measures enacted before the separation of some SAGCs saw employees at the time designated as civil servants).

    So, while I cannot dispute that lower-rung employees of the “central” Government may have salary gripes, there should be NOT A SINGLE SAGC employee who should complain about their pay – even lower-rung!! For example, check the starting salary of an untrained, basic high-school-educated Airport Security Officer!! Management tier of OfReg & Airports Authority are only 2 of the SAGC’s whose employees are grossly overpaid and further (especially CIAA) has created over-paid Senior Manager tiers whereby Managers and other “faux” posts are justified so that the SM’s don’t have to even be present at times – they certainly don’t deliver!!

    Also, central Government Departments have Deputy, Assistant Deputy, Acting Assistant Deputy, Deputy Assistant, etc., posts for no apparent purpose than to justify high salaries! Usually there is no Deputy or Assistants available to deal with customers, if necessary. No one answers phones or responds to email!

    In any case, if lower-rung employees have justifiable gripes about their salaries, just lower the salaries of senior management and eradicate some of the unnecessary tiers and posts!!

    • Neverwannabeacivilservantoransagcemployee says:

      1.25pm I recall a report from the Auditor General (one of the very few who provides value for her salary), that the salaries paid by the C.I.A.A are the highest of anywhere in the S.A.G.C’s and that’s quite an achievement.These people live in Wonderland answerable to nobody.

      • Anonymous says:

        And some of them have full time jobs outside of Cayman and are currently not even in Cayman but drawing their salary (the one I know of is CAA not CIAA but same difference)…madness

  48. Anonymous says:

    Maybe PoCS need to investigate widespread Piece of Crap Service we’re getting for our money.

  49. Jebanks says:

    we are unimpressed with civil servants performance

  50. Anonymous says:

    How has this been a challenging year for the civil service? I would say yes for workers in the tourism/hospitality industry, but not the civil service or financial services.

    “and the civil service as a whole has just gone through one of the most challenging years in history with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”

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