NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Economic Affairs Minister Michael Halkitis said yesterday that the government must maintain an ongoing review of the salaries of workers in the public services, acknowledging that it has been challenged with attracting and retaining qualified individuals.
The government has allocated $10m in the Ministry of Finance for this salary review. Speaking on the issue during a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday Halkitis said: “We have had an issue with attracting and retaining qualified individuals in the public service. We have done a number of studies benchmarking public sector salaries versus private sector salaries so that the government can be competitive and we can offer competitive compensation to people we want to attract into the service. We have to maintain an ongoing review to ensure the government can offer compensation to keep people in the public sector.”
He added: “What we have seen is a lot of people migrating out of the public sector for better pay in the private sector. This is well documented in terms of nurses, teachers, and other professional classes. We have to look at the issue, do the review, and make adjustments where necessary because it is clearly impacting us and our ability to offer services.”
During his budget communication, Prime Minister Philip Davis noted that a strong public sector is essential for a nation’s progress.
“Beginning in July of last year, the Ministry of Labour and Public Service rolled out the first public service-wide promotional exercise in over nine years, providing an additional $18 million dollars for public servants. This is separate and apart from our efforts to eliminate the decades-long promotions backlog, which is moving steadily along. As of today, we have negotiated over 27 trade union agreements, increasing salaries and introducing new benefits for many public servants, including our uniformed branches, teachers, and nurses. Between the promotions and the new trade union agreements, thousands of public servants have been positively impacted,” said Davis.
He continued: “Even so, we believe salaries are too low, and that fair compensation is crucial for attracting and retaining the best employees. Therefore, funds have been designated in this budget to conduct and implement a salary review, with the aim of increasing the compensation for the entire public service, including accountants, nurses, teachers, Defense Force officers, Police Force officers, Immigrations, Corrections and Customs Officers – all of whom should be adequately compensated for their hard work and dedication.
“In addition, funding has been allocated for the continuation of training of mid-level and senior public officers through the University of The Bahamas and for the full implementation of the Public Service Scholars Programme. Funding has been allocated for a project aimed at enhancing the skill set of individuals within the public service workforce. “
