‘Fair’ | Gov’t paying 2016, 2017 salary increments without performance appraisals

Government is one step closer to fulfilling their promise to pay two of the three years worth of outstanding salary increments owed to public officers.

A report of Cabinet’s June 5 meeting said Cabinet decided to approve “payment of the 2016 and 2017 increments, inclusive of all salaries from January 1, 2016 to present, in addition to a two incremental salary increase to the base salary of eligible public officers”.

The statement further said the payments were approved “without the requirement of a performance appraisal with the immediate payment of 2016 increments”.

Government committed to paying “the 2017 increments subsequently, but not later than the next budget estimate”, the report added.

Cabinet members were said to believe that this was the “fairest” choice considering the many challenges endured by public officers after the 2017 natural disasters.

Public officers/government workers typically qualify for increments — which is an increase in an employee’s base salary — if they successfully meet performance objectives that are set between employees and their respective managers yearly.

The former NDP administration had previously stated that approximately $9 million in increments were owed to public officers and had promised just days before the general elections in February to pay that sum by mid-March of 2019.