CS gets 2.5% one-off bonus
(CNS): Government is giving its core civil servants a one-off bonus payment to reward public sector workers for their part in meeting the targets of last year’s budget and their work towards presenting this one. The premier made the announcement during his policy statement ahead of Marco Archer’s budget address, with the details of the bonus set out in a letter sent to civil servants. Premier Alden McLaughlin said the 2.5% gratuity payment based on government workers' annual salaries will be in their pay packets next month. He said it applies only to central government workers, however, and not those working for government companies or statutory authorities, who are in charge of their own remuneration packages, or MLAs. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
The premier told the Legislative Assembly in his policy statement that, as with private business, government relies upon its human resources to succeed. “And like a private business would seek to do, it is important that the government’s leadership acknowledged and reward positive results.”
With government forecasting to exceed its more than $100 million surplus and personnel costs for the 2013/14 fiscal year end or less than expected government’s cash position is stronger than expected creating some room for the bonus.
“This amount, which will be payable along with the civil servant salaries at the end of June, is in recognition of the fact that the consumer price index has steadily risen and that with the help of its staff, this year the Government has the means to provide compensation in the form of this one off payment,” McLaughlin said. Thanking public sector workers for not only “meeting but exceeding targets” he implored them to keep up the good work.
“The past year’s financial performance has only been possible through shared sacrifices as many departments have had to cope with fewer resources to meet the same or increased demand for services. However, this reward proves that when our staff succeed in the challenge ‘to do more with less’ not only does the organisation succeed but its staff can share in the fruits of that success.”
He said that government still wants to re-introduce the coat of living allowance and believes it should be more than 3.2% but he said government is still challenged by personnel costs in government and in the 2014/15 budget where government will be filling some essential positions the wage bill had reached its ceiling. McLaughlin recently said personal costs “blew the budget” and in his speech Monday he said salaries would continue to present struggle for government and he said leaving post vacant was just not sustainable.
“We have to contain personnel costs in a sustainable way he said as he pointed to phase five of the rationalization process where the public sector will see, mergers, consolidation and sell offs. But McLaughlin indicated it would be local small businesses that would benefit from government services contracted out to the private sector or provide civil servants now working for government to set up their own businesses to provide those services from the private sector instead.
“Through this exercise we hope to streamline government even more and devise a road map for implementation as well as to ensure Caymanians have an opportunity to become entrepreneurs,” he added.
McLaughlin said the EY report is due next month and the implementation of the recommendations will begin this budget year and some mergers would be taking place even before the report was completed.
Category: Politics
Wow, this story got sent quick to the second page, is CNS scarred of the comments.
CNS: Articles are not "sent" to the second page. The are posted chronologically with the latest articles first. (Headlines are "stickied" to the top for a day or so.) Look at the date stamp.
I am genuinely curious why you think we would be "scarred" of the comments on this article.
My BFF Jamie Dimon got a huge raise, after he was in charge of JP Morgan while they were getting record setting fines.
This just proves that everything is better in the private sector.
To the negative posters. When was the last time you and your colleagues produced this kind of financial performance and didn’t get a bonus. Negative posters for godness sake please try and use some common sense. We have a government and civil servants who just produced a $107m surplus. OMG isn’t that amazing! I say give the civil servants 10%. Which is by way what two of my friends got from their private sectors employers last year as a bonus. Thank you Premier.
That entire 107m was probably pulled in with that God-forsaken government fee tacked on to my monthly CUC bill! And as a private citizen I would never consider myself to have a surplus of anything if I am indebted with loans the way our Government is.
"What God-forsaken government fee tacked on to the monthly CUC bill" are you on about? If you are referring to the duties on fuel did you not understand that that has been reduced and govt. will lose only a few million from the reduction?
Your next comment was really dumb. You simply don't understand basic accounting and the difference between income and expenditure on the one hand and assets and liabilities on the other. Most people have loans that FAR exceed their annual income. There is virtually no country in the world that does not have a large public debt, and we are better off than many. Would you prefer Bermuda's debt of $2.1 billion and their projected deficit of $267m instead?
Lawkes what a bunch of complainers. Cant see the forest for the trees.
Seems to me that Government brecognises it cannot give back full salaries that were reduced some years ago but are making an effort to do something to recognise good performance. Private sector dies the same thing.
but this does one more thing – the total paid is expected to be almost $4M to all civil servants. If half of this gets put back into the local economy in July then we are talking about $2M being spent in local shops or service providers. This is a heck of a injection into an economy at one time.
Just sayin…
Exactly. What the CoC and their lackeys fail to recognise is that they have hollowed out their middle-class employees with bad pay and the Civil service is the only thing holding this country together economically. The mroe the service hurts the more the country hurts. And everyone is hurting. The majority of the Service is Caymanian so any cash they get the majority is spent here. I bet you'll see a rush to pay off bills, etc., in July. So many people will only get back to 0 but the bussinesses will make some money. And then complain about their customers, the Civil Servants, not spending enough in the stores.
The Progressives should have used this 2.5% to put a dent in the unfunded pension liability that is plaguing the civil service. This would havebeen far more beneficial than putting a couple of dollars in their hands today.
Read the other story and you'll see that they are paying in to the pension fund as well. Remember, the unfunded liability isn't something that needs to be solved today. It needs to be paid down today, and tomorrow, and for several budgets after that. But to suggest that every scrap of extra money goes in ot it is as short-sighted as those governments that didn't put anything in to it over the years they were accruing the future debt.
I love the headline,…without reading the article, let me guess, the one off bonus is having a well paid job for life without having to do too much?? And should you be removed, then a few years later you get a magnificent payoff??
Please do tell me readers…
OK, for. Those of you. Complaining and stating this isn’t much of a raise, firstly you got 2.5% I work in the private sector and haven’t had a raise for yrs…
Let’s be honest, it’s not 2.5% It is more as these persons also have utility bill and there will be hopefully a 4.5% reduction, therefore the CS are getting a larger increase..
Oh and by the way, most of the CS shouldn’t get a. Raise, maybe they should be thankful they have a job… And get 15 breaks in the day to eat burger King and fries..
FYI. It is not a raise. It is a one time payment.
1) Its not a raise.
2) We already had a pay cut. So we're not complainging, like you are, that we're not getting a raise, we're complaining we're not getting our pay reset as the government, our employer regardless of poitics, promissed.
3) It is your kind of blatant ignorance that is so frustrating. Its not even possible to have a reasonable discussion since you've made up your mind based on being wrong. Good thing you're not in the Service or we'd be getting slammed in the press even more than we are now.
I think it may be time for government to start publishing the salaries of regular government employees. I am not talking about MLAs or management but the people in operations. The general public seems to be under the assumption we are receiving a huge salary. I have been with government 15 years now and my salary is less than $2300 per month. One person commented saying the 2.5 % should go to those making less than $4000 per month. LOL That would be the majority of the Civil Service.
Can't think of any group that deserves a bonus less.
Easy for you to say as you are not the one making1,600 per month. Try feeding your family on that salary each month, and don't tell me nothing about skulling work and cheating CIG. I and many other CS are not one of those!
Many of us deserve this little bonus and is very grateful, and not all of us are incompetent and waste or cheat CIG time. I and many others are decent, honest, competent hard working people.
I dare you to come swap jobs sometime, I would bet you would not last a month under the conditions in which some of us operate and still produce positively!
Please stop judging us, you may think you know the story, but do not know the other half of it.
Swap jobs, certainly up for that as i've been working 90 hour weeks for the last 5 months, currently on a 62 day workweek, and only get paid for 40 hours (no overtime). But that is private sector for you. no chatting to colleagues just silence and nad 13-14 hours a day, 7 days a week
Yes – permit holders allow themselves to be abused to this extent – slave labor – which is why they prefer you over Caymanians…
or you realise that it is the price to pay for getting ahead and promoted, to many people do the bare minimum everyday and wonder why they don't get promoted. And this happens the world over. Life and a career don't just fall in your lap you have to work for it.
I appreciate the extreme stress you are under if you have to work a "62 day workweek". I also hope you aren't employed making calendars!
I got news for you dear, if you think people in CIG don't work long hours think again. I certainly do and many others do too.
Why is it people think they know all there is to know about us CS? Please stop judging us and tainting us with the same brush….you do not have all the facts on every CS.
But why do you deserve a bonus just for doing your job?
Why does people in the private sector get a pay raise each year?
We don't deserve one for just doing our jobs. We deserve one because many of us do our jobs and much more, and we also have gone for many many years without even a cost of living raise.
The 3.5 we got a few years back was barely half of cost of living increase then, and that was taken away and given back, then taken again.imagine how much cost of living increased since then.
Please do not judge me just because I am a Civil Servant, you don't know me and the many decent hard working, competent, honest CS.
Same as I don't know you as such, will not judge you.
So this week we are giving bonuses to the people who we were trying to get private companies to hire last week becuase they added too much excess costs to the government budget???? Correct me if I am wrong here….. were't the headlines a week ago saying that the Civil Service staff were the main reason the budget tipped to one side and now we giving away bonuses??????
Yup. And this way the politicians can blame the Civil Service again when the budget doesn't allow them to do whatever they want to do (pave some roads maybe) because, youknow, its those personel costs that cost so much. Not what the politicians want done that they have to pay someone a proper wage for.
What is the total money wasted with this? CI$2.5m. For what? Just doing their jobs?
The news that the Cayman Islands Government is rewarding the civil servants with a bonus will no doubt make some people very happy. Well paid civil servant will no doubt be smiling all the way to the bank June pay day. But what about the "poor civil servant" who lost $100.00 a month from his paycheck when the 3.2% was deducted from his salary some years ago. Do you think he will be happy?
I have worked in the civil service and is now a pensioner and the same thing happens when cost of living is awarded. There are some civil service pensioners/widows and widowers who have not had $100.00 added to their pensions over the past 10 years. Some of these individuals are unable to work and yet their pensions are less than what "poor relief individuals" receive from Social Services.This isa crying shame when the cost of living has grown so much over the years and the Cayman Islands is supposed to be "so well off"!!
Leader of the Cayman Islands Government we must remember that we will always have the poor with us and we are not to rob the poor and give to the rich.
Remember God is listening to the cries of the people many of whom are going to bed hungry. What are you doing about this?
Advocate for the poor
…a comment that makes no sense because they're NOT robbing from the poor to pay the rich. They're robbing from no-one and paying both the poor and the middle class. Though your determination to find fault is impressive…
Why though does this go to the non performers in the CS. Just look at Tara Rivers report of last week. The entire report is an epic failure. The entire Ministry personnel might not be a failure but the report highlights gross under performance in key departments and creating departments within departments shows that there is an abundance of non performance. While I will offer my support for the bonus to those deserving it, 65% of the civil service will be getting the bonus for their skill at sitting on their asses, using up every one of their 10 sick days by June 1st every year, having every excuse in the book to be out of office and for being the true definition of presenteeism.
Are you going to be the judge of who is performing and who isn't performing? Tell me what criteria will you use? The same way you see Tara not performing I can assure you somebody else sees her performing very well. So what is your criteria???
Wanna have fun, here is an example of what you will find with the CS:
Go to Immigration and they have to finish their bagel before helping customers, go to Lands and they must finish the early morning coffee gossip, try clearing a package through Customs without getting delayed while the officers discuss what number played, go to Labour Office and they call you back in 24 hours, now go back to Immigration and by this time it's noon so the lunch period begins. This is no less than rewarding bad behavior with this bonus.
I go to customs regularly and I don't find them any less efficient than the private companies I go to. Try going to a bank on your lunch hour and see how fast it is.
I hope he is also going to attach strict conditions for Franz to manage his civil service properly to ensure greater outputs in lieu of this gratuity. Payment.
And that's a big joke , you should know only Her Excellencybthe Governor has jurisdiction over him. Get real.
Thats right, 90% of UCCI has had to have thier 2.5% taken away for inflation for the last several years, contracts stripped, work loads increased, and demotions for some, and does not get the one-off bonus.
F#$% Y$% higher education from the other 10% working there in managment with ties to the central government.
.
Obviously that 90% can not vote. CIG and its statutory authorities are of the politicians, by the politicians, and for the politicians. But they are NOT corrupt.
Not corrupt indeed, they are a Christian College funded by the Government. With thier new German affiliates from their successful conferance, I am sure they will follow suit with how Germany requires unionization and a representative on the Board of Directors for thier companies.
Why dont all educators, who deserve it, form a union to advocate for raises+other benefits?
Because its to the advantage of management to give out treats to only a few of the 90% to keep all the others in the 90% in quiet desparation that they may soon also get a treat(but it will never happen).
This is a well deserved award. The civil service performance has been outstanding over the past two years. Millions in personnel costs have been saved and we now have a $107m dollar surplus. Wow!!! This is exactly what any good employer does. Thank you Premier.
How in the world does this make sence when the CS is supposed to be cutting back..They are just trying to distract thier biggest pool of voters from the fact that they've done nothing. This is nothing more that Vote Buying..They will probably promise to do this as long as they are in office.
This isn't vote-buying. If that's what they wanted to do, they'd be giving the bonus in election year, not now.
PPM is investing into future votes already…
Private sector people should be this lucky. Most of us work twice as hard and wish we could get one off bonus to keep track of inflation. But we all know this likkle 2.5pct is not even keeping pace with the REAL inflation digging into our sides each day living in dis ya place. Where are the real and big breaks promised last year which can make a REAL difference in people's lives? Hope our representives debate this ting hard because me cant see any real change coming to the middle or lower class to help us live day by day and survive.
You have to be kidding me! So this is why my business is suffering under ridicoulous licence and permit fees increases, to give bonuses to one of the most bloated civil services in the developed world. Well i have had enough of this crap, time to outsource all my workers off island, stuff this government and its fees!!
why not our 3.2% or more, after all we’ve been displaced for many yrs!
Am I missing something, but isn't this what they're already well paid to do? Wish I got a bonus every time I delivered exactly what my employer expected of me. Like giving candy to a baby.
Don't forget the CS doesn't pay health insurance either! What they make they keep!
They already get a huge break not paying health insurance and pension. Those CS are sitting on a gold mine and they know it. I wish I could get that bonus from my private sector boss.
"or provide civil servants now working for government to set up their own businesses to provide those services from the private sector instead." Now Government is encouraging Civil Servants to open business and moonlight by selling services to the government they work for. Sounds like conflict of interest to me.
No silly. The civil servant would leave the service, set up a company and COMPETE to provide the relevant services. Therefore reducing the civil service's personell costs and probably getting the required service as less cost.
17:54.Either you do not understand what you have read ,or you are deliberately twisting the facts.Basically the premeir is suggesting privatising certain jobs/services by laying off certain civil servants who would then form a company to provide these services.eg should Government decide to privatise Computer Services,then under this scenario the laid off staff of Computer Services are encouraged to form a Company and try to provide these services to Government.
I cannot believe this. I have been left speechless. Someone please wake me up, I am having a terrible dream.
Thiswill not change peoples mind come next election. This is just one trip to the supermarket. How disgusting.
17:20.If you are earning $2500 pm ($30,000 per year) this 2.5% will be $750. If you are spending that much in just one trip ,let's hope that is for one month and not one week.
Maybe they should put a cap on that 2.5%.
Limited to salaries of less than 4k a month. These are the civil servants that have had the most troubles financially. If you make more than that you shouldn't complain.
Civil servants that want to start their own business, that is a joke. The paperwork, bureaucracy, sabotage etc is immense. And i speak from experience.
Tough times do indeed require tough decisions but, as this PPM government has shown time and time again, from the business tax to the top rate of tax to localgovernment funding, it takes most from those who have least. It is unfair and it is unjust.
The Civil Service Association which represents 3,000 workers, said it was "outraged".
It said council employees had already endured a devastating two-year pay freeze and then a miserly 2.5% increase, representing a fall in pay in real terms back to the level of the 1990s.The pay offer does not affect teachers, chief executives or senior officers. They are covered by separate pay arrangements.
The offer comes at a time when local government is tackling the biggest cuts in living memory and will add more than CI 4m to the local government pay bill.This offer balances our commitment to increase the pay of our hardworking employees with the responsibility we have to address the significant financial pressures we face.We believe that this isn't a fair deal for employees, given the limits of what we can afford, and a fair deal for the taxpayers and residents who use and pay for the vital services which local government provides.The extra for the lowest paid is welcome but is worth only a few cents on the hourly rate. It still leaves the local government workforce as the poor relations of the public sector, and councils can afford more because they are squirrelling away millions in reserves.The 2.5% deal was a slap in the face for the vast majority of local government workers.
This is not an increase or "pay offer". This a ONE TIME payment, a bonus if you like, of 2.5% of their annual salaries. It will be something they didn't have before but it is still very little for the lower paid civil servants, considering that their pay was cut back and frozen for so long.
Teachers-organise yourselves better – as they have done in any developed country.
Represent all the rights you+the kids deserve!
The time is now……
I must say though I do like all of his other plans but the dump should not be # 5 on the priority list.
chew gum cross road simultaneously
Bad analogy. Fixing the dump is far from a simple problem.
I want to give the people a 60 % cut in their power bills and can't get a call back from the Premier because he is to busy throwing them a 2.5% one time bone.
Come on man.
Pathetic. Why are they giving money away unnecessarily?
First they cry, if there is a real surplus then they should give tax breaks. Then the govt. gives tax breaks then they complain they are giving away money unnecessarily. The govt. knows that in order to continue to meet/exceed targets they need the active assistance of civil servants. The bonus is an incentive for them to continue to meet/exceed targets.