NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Davis yesterday defended the government’s public sector salary review as “critical,” noting that regrettably, a significant number of individuals have left the public sector for the private sector because of the better pay and benefits on offer.
During his budget debate contribution, Prime Minister Davis noted that this trend is particularly notable among nurses, and teachers, although it is also true of other professional groups.
“If we do not offer salaries at competitive rates, people will not want to work in the public service. If we do not offer salaries at competitive rates, people will not stay in the public service. Salaries must keep pace with inflation, and be at a level which is competitive and fair,” said Davis.
He added: “The public service currently employs approximately 25,000 employees. The recent increases in the minimum wage and the various union agreements have been small steps in the right direction. We need to go further.”
Davis clarified that the Government’s decision to allocate funding toward its salary review in the public sector is specifically to improve pay to employees, and not to hire a private company to review salaries.
“For some reason, a member of the opposition has spread baseless news that questioned how this money will be used. I will clearly say it again. This funding will be used to compensate our hard-working employees. In order to offer competitive salaries, the government has to benchmark public-sector salaries against private-sector salaries. Regular salary reviews should be conducted to guarantee that the government can provide adequate compensation to retain employees in the public sector,” said Davis.
He added: “Regrettably, a significant number of individuals have left the public sector to go to the private sector, because of the better pay and benefits on offer. This trend is particularly notable among nurses, and teachers, although it is also true of other professional groups.”
In 2024/2025 budget notes that $10 million is allocated for salary review under the Ministry of Finance.
Davis also noted that the Cloud Bahamas platform will revolutionize the administration of public sector payments, by introducing new features such as electronic salary notifications, online job applications, and bi-weekly salary payments for all employees.
He stated: “Bi-weekly salary payments mean that our employees will now be able to be paid every two weeks. This will allow for more frequent paydays which will almost certainly support employees to improve their cashflow. This, in turn, will hopefully shield employees from high-interest consumer loans, in order to fund everyday expenses. More frequent paydays should significantly help those small businesses that rely on the uptick in economic and financial activity fuelled by government workers, which would otherwise only take place at the end of any given month – the time of pay for government salaried employees.”
