Senior government officials and members of Saint Lucia’s political directorate are set to receive salary increases following the tabling in Parliament of the long-awaited report of the Salaries Review Commission.
Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre presented the Commission’s findings, which cover remuneration for senior public servants in grades 19 to 21, as well as parliamentary and other constitutional office holders. The review comes after 15 years without a salary adjustment for the affected categories.
Public Officers in grades 19 to 21 include the Chief Elections Officer, the Accountant General and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Pierre told Parliament that the Commission recommended an “accumulative salary increase of 20.3% covering the period April 1st, 2011 to March 31st, 2026, 15 years, retroactive.”
The report also recommends further annual increases.
“Salary increase of 1.35% effective April 1st, 2026. Salary increase of 1.35% effective April 1st, 2027,” Pierre said.
Taken together, the recommendations amount to an overall increase of approximately 23 per cent over the review period.
The Commission also addressed the position of retired senior public officers, recommending that they receive proportionate adjustments based on when they left the public service.
“The Commission recommends that retired senior management be awarded a proportionate entitlement to a cumulative 23% salary increase calculated up to the year of retirement within the applicable triennium,” Pierre said.
Under the recommendations, pensions and gratuities for retired officers in grades 19 to 21 would also be recalculated.
“Pensions and gratuities for retired officers in grades 19 to 21 be recomputed to reflect the revised salary levels,” the Prime Minister said.
According to the report, the measure is intended to ensure fairness for retirees whose pensions were calculated using salary scales that had not been reviewed for many years.
“This approach ensures that retirees are not disadvantaged by the timing of their retirement and that pension outcomes more accurately reflect the value of service rendered,” Pierre said.
The Prime Minister also outlined the salary adjustments already agreed for the wider public service. He said public officers in grades 1 to 18 received cumulative increases of 21.5 per cent up to the 2022 to 2025 period, followed by a further seven per cent increase for the 2025 to 2028 triennium.
Pierre defended the need to review the salaries of senior officials and elected representatives, arguing that their responsibilities should be reflected in their remuneration.
“Senior public servants and members of the political directorate alike bear heavy responsibilities,” he told the House.
“Their remuneration must reflect the dignity of the offices and the burdens they carry. To deny them fair consideration is to weaken the institutions upon which our democracy rests.”
The Salaries Review Commission is established under the Constitution and is responsible for reviewing the remuneration of senior public servants and members of the political directorate.
Pierre explained that the Commission is required to act after salary negotiations for public officers in grades 1 to 18 have concluded.
“Its mandate is clear, to act expeditiously following the conclusion of negotiations for public servants between grades 1 and 18, so that parity and fairness may be maintained across the public service,” he said.
The Commission includes representatives from the Government, Opposition, private sector, public service unions and the general public, along with a chairperson selected for expertise in areas such as industrial relations, economics, law or business management.
The current review covers 54 civil servants in grades 19 to 21, together with parliamentary and other constitutional offices.
With the report now tabled in Parliament, the recommendations will guide the adjustment of salaries for senior officials and the recalculation of pensions for eligible retirees, bringing to an end a 15-year period without a formal salary review for those categories.