Highest number of gov’t retirees in 5 years
The Central Administration Complex in Road Town.
Government’s Human Resource Department has said the year 2017 has recorded the highest number of persons to retire from the public service in half-a-decade.
According to Director of Human Resources, Michelle Donovan-Stevens, a total of 73 government workers had retired at the end of that year.
She gave those statistics when she appeared before the Standing Finance Committee recently.
Donovan-Stevens did not disclose the overall number of retirees in the territory for 2017.
There was also no indication whether the considerable increase in the number of government retirees was a result of the hurricanes.
In the meantime, the Human Resources Director also told the Standing Finance Committee “there continues to be an increase in the cost of pensions”.
The 2018 report on deliberations from the said committee did not give details on the pension increase.
A pre-hurricane assessment last year revealed the territory’s pension liability had been increasing by approximately $7 million or $8 million annually.
Former Financial Secretary, Neil Smith had called for a civil service contributory pension and gratuities scheme to be implemented so the government can facilitate the growing pension cost for government.
Under current provisions, civil servants are not required to contribute to their pensions.
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A PERCENTAGE OF SALARY SHOULD TAKE OUT FOR PENSION AND THOSE THAT ALREADY RECIEVING THE SAME FOR THEM ALSO. THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT CONTINUE THE SAME WAY TIME HAS CHANGE. WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR LITTLE ISLAND. FOR YEARS WE WERE WARNING BOTH GOVERNMENTS ABOUT CHANGING THE WAY IT WERE SET UP NOW IT COME BACK TO HAUNT THEM.
The current pension scheme is going to slay us economically if we don’t reform it. People retire and it just doubles the cost to Government – they have to pay the old person a pension and pay a salary to the new person to replace them.
Government needs to push swiftly towards a self-funded contributory pension scheme for civil servants.
It may make for boring politics, but it is crucial to long term management of public finances.
What are the contributing cause(s) for the unprecedented number of retirees in 2017? Will the vacant positions be filled or a hard hiring freeze be imposed? Even the blind can see the civil service is heavily bloated and needs to be cut. Nonetheless, no politician neither government nor opposition will touch it with a 10 metre pole; the system will collapse under its own weight before the problem is addressed.
It is wonderful that 73 people get the opportunity to retire. Additionally, it also provides the opportunity for younger workers to start a career in government.Nevertheless, the pension unfunded liability has been growing at an alarming and non-sustainable rate. The unfunded liability is north of $300M. A pension fund/sinking fund needs to be established; the current pay as you system is not sustainable.
Pensions should be payable at pensionable age – 60/65 NOT when you work 20 years and are still working. No country can fund this scheme of double payment to gov workers – a lot of whom collect a pension, a salary and still use the job as a platform to run their own business! If there is no reform Gov will be bankrupted
Why stay if you dont have to, we working under horrible conditions for little money, i would leave if i could
I am tired of hearing current government employees speaking about there being nothing to do after the hurricane. Those who do not stay home, chill out and receive their regular salary twice monthly, go to the workplace, sit down, do nothing, and collect their usual salary – at taxpayers’ expense.
What is being done about this?
Come and see how we are working bwfore talking, yes some people are lazy but the majority are working because we love our country
WHAT DO THEY DO FOR SEVEN HOURSIN GOV’T OFFICES? GOV’T SERVCE IS LIKE BABY SITTING EACH OTHER. THE WORK THEY DO IN SEVEN HRS COULD BE DONE IN 4–5 HRS
People wanted that lump sum after the storms, that’s all. Can you blame them? Where else in the world you work for Government, contribute ZERO to your pension and collect a fat cheque at the end of it all. Happy days!
Send home some of the expats. Especially in the teaching arena. Overstaffed some teachers working hard and some on holidays most teachers can cross teach subjects. PAY THE LOCAL ONES BETTER AND KEEP TheIR PENSIONS. Expats are being paid way more and been giving housing and gratuity and increments. ITS MADNESS!and they still complain.
Maybe, just maybe, if the government would stop making up/creating positions for their “favored” just so they can get high seats in departments, so much money won’t be wasted. Ijs.