Premier gives update on increments
Government is making progress on delayed increment payments to public officers, with the goal of paying all of the 2016 increments by the end of November and paying 2017 increments starting in mid-December, Premier Andrew Fahie said last Thursday in the House of Assembly.
He recalled that in his budget address on April 2 he announced that his government was able to “massage the estimates” to include the payment of increments.
On June 19 Cabinet approved the payment of the 2016 and 2017 increments “in lieu of performance increments,” with the immediate payment of the 2016 increments, and a commitment to pay 2017 increments before the next budget estimate, Mr. Fahie said.
Director of Human Resources Michelle Donovan-Stevens told him that on June 24 the department had provided notice and instructions for processing the 2016 increments through a “human resources circular,” he added.
“With the collaboration of accounting officers, nominal rolls were vetted for officer eligibility, salary changes and position movements,” he said.
In July, he added, the HR Department began the process of paying “computed salary arrears and one incremental salary adjustment for vetted officers.”
Mr. Fahie said that 2,163 public officers were eligible to receive the 2016 increments on July 1, and that about 67 percent of eligible officers had received them as of Sept. 30.
He added that government is on track to complete the 2016 increment payments by the end of November, and “may be in the position” to pay the 2017 increments by mid-December “if the conditions remain the same of how they are,” he said, noting the challenges of reining in expenditures and the “incorporation of companies in financial services that was known from years before.”
On June 19 Cabinet approved the payment of the 2016 and 2017 increments “in lieu of performance increments,” with the immediate payment of the 2016 increments, and a commitment to pay 2017 increments before the next budget estimate, Mr. Fahie said.
Director of Human Resources Michelle Donovan-Stevens told him that on June 24 the department had provided notice and instructions for processing the 2016 increments through a “human resources circular,” he added.
“With the collaboration of accounting officers, nominal rolls were vetted for officer eligibility, salary changes and position movements,” he said.
In July, he added, the HR Department began the process of paying “computed salary arrears and one incremental salary adjustment for vetted officers.”
Mr. Fahie said that 2,163 public officers were eligible to receive the 2016 increments on July 1, and that about 67 percent of eligible officers had received them as of Sept. 30.
He added that government is on track to complete the 2016 increment payments by the end of November, and “may be in the position” to pay the 2017 increments by mid-December “if the conditions remain the same of how they are,” he said, noting the challenges of reining in expenditures and the “incorporation of companies in financial services that was known from years before.”
