Civil servants to get 5% cost of living hike
Government Administration Building, George Town
(CNS): Government workers can look forward to a pay increase of 5% in their pay packets next month, which will be backdated to 1 July. Premier Alden McLaughlin announced the hike in the cost of living allowance (COLA) for civil servants on Wednesday during his address to the Legislative Assembly special meeting on Cayman Brac, saying his government’s successes would not have been achieved without the assistance of civil servants. He said the 5% will start to be paid with the September salary. But the country’s leader signaled further good news:
Providing that the economy remains strong, there would be another COLA increase in 2020 to adjust for the Consumer Price Index between 2018 and 2020.
“This will finally begin to bring civil servant salaries back on track after seven or more years of playing catch-up with an increasing cost of living,” he said. “This will also complete the plans started during the last administration to bring civil servants pay back in line and will not only benefit families of civil servants but is money that will be spent back into the local economy.”
McLaughlin also announced broader salary scale reviews for police and fire officers, as well as those employed by the Department of Environmental Health. The premier said that this was to ensure that government could attract and retain the staff it needs. He said more information would be revealed at a later date after the reviews are completed.
Category: Government Finance, Local News, Politics
badmind
Yet in my little private sector job I got a measly 0.3%.
4:36, the pensioners only got 1.9 %, so u did better than them
What about whistleblowers that can never be right in the eyes of the higher-ups and whistleblowers continues to get blocked and not liked by the higher-ups in the workplace. Did the deputy governor remove the red tape from the chain of command and the protocol for the whistleblowers for 2018 that they can get a pay raise this time around?.
expats that go through 15 years of discrimination…..will have their revenge.
How the civic servants gets 5% cost of living increase and the govt. pensioners only got 1.9 % (after waiting 3 years) for the cost of living increase, that’s not fare, we got to eat too. Accordance with section 22 of the Public Service Law (2017 Revision) so Pensioners should got the 5 % also. Pensioners please keep this alive so we can get the 5% increase.
it’s pells as civil servants
You correcting some one spelling and spell a word wrong also. How sad ?
Meanwhile the minimum wage remains at $6
and will likely need consultation and a report before anything at all is done
Meanwhile where is the long consultation process or report justifying this vote buying attempt?
The Civil service is at or close to 3/4ths Caymanian
How many indoctrinated PPM votes is this going to buy
How many more years will it take us to realize they are handing us the crumbs and running out the back door with the Profits???
——- CNS can you guys find out if this raise also includes MLAs because I doubt they would give the CO raises and not give some to themselves
Surely with this vote buying pay raise, Civil Servants will now be more willing to enact and submit to the Standards in Public Life Law….when are simple conflict disclosures going to become part of the rudimentary code of conduct?
Headline is not clear complete.
The headline should start as below:
MLAs, Pensioners, and Civil Servants to get 5% ……
Pensioners have been left in the dark for quite sometime – only to received a 1.9% in July 2018. Still hoping and praying that someone will consider them for the balance of the pension 3.1% equivalent to the 5%. The CPI is climbing while they are declining. Come on! we spend no different from any other government employee. So unfair to the aging population of Pensioners needing more growing older.
People are going to tear me up for saying this, but the civil service pensioners have the best pension plan there is, at least those who were working prior to the end of 1999. Something needs to be done about the private sector individuals who can only $1,000 per month if their lucky and whose payments only last until the money runs out.
CNS is there any chance that are you able to get an answer if the authorities will be getting this as well?
CNS: I’ve passed the question on to Auntie.
Thank you! Much appreciated.
Totally unnecessary vote buying. There was no need for an increase at anything like this level.
I am happy for the civil servants as the majority of them need it!!! But I’m concern of the big spending by the PPM coalition government. Let’s do the maths:$2M for roads, $9M for iguana culling, raise of seaman and veterans pay, 5% civil servant pay raise, new helicopter, new coast guard boat, recent scotia bank purchase, land acquisitions for beach access and lastly, the misappropriation of monies from the various authorities. Then there is the Port, where is all this money coming from and has the monies been put to good useage I.e.take a look at the traffic on the new expensive roads, is the traffic better both mornings and evenings? Cayman people, we deserve better!
And what about the HSA staff who have had no increase for 10 years!!
Go find Canover and ask him.
If the government would shut down Ofreg, the pay raise may have been 10%
Carey, I couldn’t love your comment anymore if it was typed by Mariah herself.
Don’t be jealous Casey
Its the good accounting of our Finance Ministers including Marco Archer. If only many businesses in the private sector can learn from their plight.
🙂
An indisputable fact, the Civil Service runs this country and always has.
Went to my boss today and asked for 5% cost of living increase and his answer was the work permit “tax” increased 5% to pay for civil servant 5% increase
so sorry.
He or she should have less work permits then. And hire Local!
10:13am they will be getting the most.????????????????????????????????
It is basically that government are bribing voters to win next election!
So when is it ok for civil servants to ever get a pay raise using your logic?
When they have earned it, individually.
excellent!!!!☺????????
I am so grateful for this raise. I feel so happy that I can take care of my family without worrying about which Bill with not be paid.
How many Bill’s do you know and why are you giving them your money?
You made my day with that response.
what about the public servants the poor little outsiders?
“the outsiders”? Poor things. You mean the ones like OFREg all earning over $100k a year?
Im talking about the poor low paid authority workers.
i have been working for one of the authorities for 10 years an i have not seen any form of pay raise.
There is one particular Authority that the workers get compensated for cost of living plus they get Christmas bonuses.
but the Authority that i work at we dont get SHOOT!
Some of us earn only enough to make it by month-to-month. Sorry you are misinformed. Most public servants make peanuts. This 5% increase will not affect us. We are being left out.
Typed this comment on my iPhone 12 whilst driving my Audi.
Good for you! the struggle is real, and qualifications in our country doesn’t matter to a Caymanian. Salaries are less than “0” so there is no opportunity to benefit – can’t even buy an “Importee Car” or afford a “Cell phone” that is the Cayman life -take it or leave it.
What about the pensioners what time will they get the 3.1 % to make up to the 5 % ?
so question when you the governent say all civil servants does that apply to the statutary bodies aswell?
im interested to know because i have never got an increase in 18 years.
Do the hundreds on ‘leave’ pending investigation for fraud, dishonesty, theft etc get a pay rise too?
Yes and the ones who do not have time to show up because they have other business interests but they are powerful and untouchable.
Just another political payoff boy Caymanians are now only worth 5% the civil service voting mafia is flush wid $$$cash again??? its Bad sign though, especially this early the campaign for the next election has officially kick off.
Welcome news. Take care of your staff and they will take care of your customers. I must say that I deal with private sector employees every day as part of my job in the civil service and it seems they can’t operate with hand holding from me. But they are my valuable customers and I appreciate them.
Those in the private sector who will be jealous of this. Try surviving in Cayman for 1 week without the civil service. You can’t!
Let’s stop the blame game and work together.
When I clicked on this article I was anticipating nothing but grudging, negative comments. I’m happy to see that this is the first positive one.
When I clicked on the article I was expecting to see a number of Franzplants. Lo and behold….
of course we could not survive without the civil service….or the privated sector for that matter.
but we could survive and prosper at 75% of the current civil service numbers….assuming they were prepared to their jobs efficiently
Funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. If private companies operated the way CIG does everyone would be bankrupt and doors closed.
Wake up and smell what you’re shovelling.
If public sector was not doing a superb and efficient job private sector would be bankrupt and doors closed. Obviously you have no idea the crap that so many in the private sector do. If you think private sector is any better than public sector then you haven’t worked there.
1:54 I’ve worked both public and private sector and you are posting complete BS. Public sector goes to work because they need to to get their pay checks. Private sector goes to work to EARN their pay checks.
If CIG was a public organisation most of the staff would have kicked out on their butts years ago. I’ll concede that it varies from department to department but the worst offenders always seem to be the most important ones or at least the ones that think they’re the most important.
Mr. D. Governor, please put in place, check in /check out clocks, then maybe more Civic Servants (especially in the Brac) will come and leave work the right time, and may help to stop them from being in the shops/deli at 9 am.
i wonder if airport authority,water authority and port authority will get cost of living aswell hhhhhhmmmmm they will be left in the dust.
The hand holding is due to the ridiculously complicated red tape.
You are absolutely right. When I asked a top official of how many work in the civil service he replied ‘about half’.
7.50am Try answering your phone to the public for starters, instead of only to customers of your private businesses.
one basic tip for cig.
cut the cost of doing business…this benefits everybody and will stimulate the economy for years.
As a former member of the private sector. I can say that I traded up when I joined the civil service and i actually took a pay cut. In the private sector I was not challenged working in one boring specialist area. In the civil service my work is challenging and varied. I have amazing CO workers and a manager who actually cares about staff.
This pay increased returns me to my private sector salary.
Thank you Premier and DG for keeping your promises.
or should read….merchants getting raise? they already gone up in prices in shops on island? as they always do….????????
Strong economy = stronger government
Well done!
worthless soundbite
Sounds like someone’s getting the public sector voters ready for the next election.
Look at the timing of the next COLA. No coincidence.
It’s about time they gave us a pay increase!! Bracka
12;35, Bracka, i hope you all will do your work now and stop being in the shops all day eating,
yep give thea cola increase but cut the headcount by at least 15%.
civil service is a bloated incompetent shambles that is bad joke on all the people in the private sector who do real jobs.
i could accept this if the civil service was reformed
(even slightly) in line with miller-shaw and e&y reports……
but no chance in hell of any caymanian politician ever making a tough brave decision.
sick to my back teeth of the spineless, idiots we have running this place.
You do know that everyone has realized by now that those reports weren’t worth the paper they were written on. Stop with them. Just stop.
who said that…a civil servant????
But its a “re imagined civil service” you know. Imagine all the civil servants actually turning up on time, in the rain, doing an honest days work, with no sense of entitlement but one of duty. Nope I cannot for the lift of me imagine.
absolute madness. vote buying with cayman’s very own social welfare programme…aka the civil service.
I waited 10 years for a raise. Thank you Premier and DG.
Meanwhile govt continues to be attractive…the private sector is the crew lowballing local talents.
I haven’t gotten a cola since 2014 and back then what they gave equated to $30.00. Private sector rewards management only. Right now, the Civil Service looks more appealing.
I am a retired civic servant an got a cost of living raise of $19 p m after waiting 3 years this year, why we didn’t get the 5% cost of living raise, we only got 1.9 %
5:24 pm, you r right!!! Why aren’t pensioners getting the same COLA as the civil service!!! I thought that was the idea.
So they give the pensioners ahead of the civil service so we wouldn’t notice the discrepancy? Is that it? We don’t all have dimentia.
Some of the pensioners are in dire financial straits.
Remember they can vote, too.
5.24pm/12.30am Count yourselves lucky you get any COLA, in the privtae sector this does not happen, even though all pensions are contributory unlike yours.
Thank you Premier this is badly needed. The civil service pay is actually 10 years behind the cost of living. Civil servants have suffered with salary cuts and allowances discontinued. These sacrifices allowed the Government to quickly recovery from the global financial crisis.
Thank you for caring about your people and for doing the right thing.
For those haters out there you try feeding your family on a salary that is 10 years behind the cost of living.
Behind??? There are several posts within the CIG that pay upwards of $40k per annum without having a degree or a huge deal of work experience.
If you do a degree and experience, you get even more.
Civil servants don’t have to contribute towards healthcare or pension, unlike the the private sector.
You all have it much better than the rest of us on paper!
I don’t understand why the Civil Servants fail to see all the benefits the reap. Even though HSA is crap, that’s still a monthly savings of over $1k for my family of 4, in health insurance premiums if I were a Civil Servant. To make the deal even sweeter, you don’t pay pension either, you get fully paid excessive sick days, and tardiness, bad attitudes and poor work ethic are without consequences. Ironically, you all get rewarded instead. Civil Servants have it made. I’m going to apply asap.
I’m a civil servant, and fully appreciate my pension and healthcare.
After having a pay cut and many years without a pay rise of consequence, this is great.
The money will also be going toward mortgage repayments, as I have invested plenty into these adopted islands.
I understand the green eyed monster, and justifiable, in some cases, accusations of laziness and worthlessness, but that is the same in any civil service. I for one have earned what I have received.
Oh, and I don’t take sick days off unless I’m sick.
If this is true, then you maybe one of the few exceptions.
Don’t forget Gardening leave, the greatest benefit of them all!
Every CIG employee ‘contributes’ their 6% to their pension. its just lies to say otherwise and I challenge you to prove it with the actual numbers (not quoted numbers, but actual as-paid numbers).
6% for a benefit worth how much?
Crack is whack!
No you buffoon, you don’t contribute 6% to your pension. Try so ask Ken Jefferson to explain how your payslip makes it look like you pay something even though your take home pay is exactly the same as listed on the pay scales, with NO deduction taken out of your TAKE HOME pay.
How do they “contribute” and many never have.
Civil servants don’t actually contribute 6% into pension. Government contributes 6 % and Government pays the employee’s 6% contribution, as well. It’s really a fancy, roundabout way of saying that Government pays 12% into pension.
Are you delusional. I am a civil servant and my take home pay is exactly what I earn per year. NOTHING is deducted.
10.19pm Try paying $1000 a month for medical insurance for you and your dependents, plus 20% of all your claims on top, plus the first $500 0f claims in any one year, plus airfares to Miami and hotel bills if you need treatment there and this applies to ALL private sector workers even if they are earning less than $20,000pa.