BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 9, 2021– The salary reductions for all government-paid workers have been finalized and take retroactive effect as of June 1, 2021. The bill that was passed in Parliament to reduce the salaries of public servants was the first piece of legislation signed by the newly installed Governor General, H.E. Froyla Tzalam, and for weeks it has been the cause of much apprehension for the Joint Unions.
A circular sent out by the Financial Secretary, Joseph Waight, informed the heads of offices of all government departments and institutions of the activation of the salary cuts and the new pay scales for public workers.
These reductions will remain in effect for the “relevant period” from June 1, 2021, to March 31, 2024, but the legislation makes provision for the cuts to be revisited and possibly reduced after yearly consultation with the social partners.
In addition to the salary reductions, there will be a 25% reduction of the entertainment allowances that are given to the heads of government departments and senior public officers in the base year. And, as previously reported, section 4(4) makes provision for the freezing of increments.
Of note, section 5 of the legislation outlines that public officers’ pensions will be calculated “on the basis of emoluments that would have been applicable if these Regulations had not been passed.”
The legislation also adds, “Emoluments greater than twelve thousand dollars per annum paid in the base year shall, during the relevant period, be and remain reduced by ten percent (10%).”
This is reflected in the salary revision presented by the government. This circular lists the new pay scales and compares them with the amounts that were listed prior to the implementation of the reductions.
The salary cuts, which do not impact workers who previously earned $12,000 or less per annum, will affect public workers who are on on pay scale 1 at pay point 9 or at any pay scale above that base. The yearly salary of those government workers (on pay scale 1 at pay point 9) will fall by $307 from $12,307 to a flat $12,000. On pay scale two the cuts will take effect at pay point 5, from $12,164 to the capped rate.
On pay scale 3 the cuts will start at pay point 3, with those workers losing $286 yearly; and those on pay scale 4 will begin to see a reduction at pay point 2 — a total of $657 off their annual salary.
And at pay scale 5, the cuts begin for all other permanent workers, and the data seems to suggest that the salaries of those who are at the initial point on that pay scale will fall under the $12,000 threshold. Despite having a previous salary (prior to the salary cuts) of $13,152, those workers will receive $11,837 annually.
In terms of salary ranges, official data shared with Amandala shows government-paid workers, inclusive of teachers and public officers, between pay scale 1 and 5, being one of the largest affected groups — almost 7,250 workers. Salaries for these persons constitute about 30.7457% of the total wages paid out by government as of March 2021. These persons collect between $12,001 and $26,000 annually.
The president of the Public Service Union (PSU), Dean Flowers, has stated that they did not expect to get new pay scales with the salary adjustments, and he asserted that this will set workers back even more. His assertion is that these new pay scales will be set in stone going forward, even after the three-year period has passed. When questioned by local media, acting Prime Minister, Hon. Cordel Hyde, said that the government is committed to looking over the numbers and making relevant adjustments, as was agreed on and legislated.
“The projection is for three years. But the commitment to the Union is that we would revisit this annually to see whether we need continue with the cuts or whether we can pull back from that. Every six months, the union side and the government side will meet and look over the numbers to make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to do. And if we are not doing what we are supposed to do, and being derailed, we can get back on track and focus on what we need to do to meet our targets. So it’s not permanent. It is for three years,” Hon. Hyde said.