Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance and Public Service, Dr Ashni Singh on Friday night asserted to the National Assembly that in 2024 new persons who join the public sector will receive their first payment of salary in a timely manner.
The minister made this assertion as he was responding to a question posed by the Opposition as to what the government intends to do to reduce the waiting time of new recruits who are to be paid their first salary.
“We are firmly of the view that it should not take the inordinate time it takes for people to receive their first emoluments…Let me say clearly and unequivocally that this government’s position is that persons should be paid in the shortest possible time after they have been recruited,” Minister Singh robustly stated.
He said that the government is currently doing work to revisit the business process surrounding recruitment and the payroll.
The public service minister further asserted that this matter will be addressed definitively and early in this year, so that the magnitude of the issue can be significantly reduced.
Asked by if there are any administrative disadvantages of a person being paid late, the minister replied, “In terms of whether there are any other administrative disadvantages other than the personal inconvenience that you don’t receive your pay on time but you incur all of the costs associated with going to work such as transportation, rent, utilities etc. Outside of those there are no other administrative disadvantages.”
Additionally, answering another question posed as to if the salary band will be increased this year for public servants, the minister explained that when an across the board salary increase occurs per year, the salary band also increases accordingly.
As such, he said whenever an across the board salary increase or other increase occurs in 2024, then the band will be adjusted upwards as well.
A salary band is the minimum and maximum amount of money that a company pays its employees.
