Cabinet members earned $305K on average in 2022, report reveals

The 11 members of Cayman’s Cabinet received an average of $304,502 each in 2022, according to a public interest report from the Office of the Auditor General.

In total, $3.3 million went to the governor, premier, seven ministers and the two non-voting ex-officio members – the deputy governor and the attorney general.

The average Cabinet annual remuneration is six times larger than the average Cayman wage of $49,611 per year.

And it is 24 times larger than Cayman’s current minimum wage of about $12,480 per year ($6 per hour at 40 hours a week).

Cabinet’s 2022 remuneration by category

The report, titled ‘Remuneration of the Cabinet, judiciary, MPs and key management personnel within the civil service in 2022’ was released to the press on Monday, 27 Nov.

It showed that salaries were the main component, or 68%, of the Cabinet’s remuneration, but allowances formed a significant part, at 19%.

The average salary was $206,158 along with averages of $56,000 in allowances, $22,000 in healthcare and $20,000 in pension contributions – all from government coffers.

However, the salaries are likely to vary among members and some did not receive any allowances, as they are only given to members of Parliament.

The governor and the two ex-officio members are not members of Parliament.

The Cabinet’s remuneration is an executive expense and reported previously only within the consolidated entire public sector financial statements, the report says.

The Office of the Auditor General prepared the public interest report to “provide independent information and improve transparency”.

The report also showed that the top 10 earners within the Cabinet, judiciary, Parliament and the civil service earned a total of $3.6 million – about $362,000 each on average.

Members of the judiciary received $302,000 each on average, a total of $3.3 million, while members of Parliament earned about $285,000 each on average – a total of $6 million.

Chief officers earned about $204,000 each, or a total of $4.3 million, and key management personnel in the civil service got about $136,000 each, or a total of $35.4 million.

The Compass will be examining the report in more detail for a subsequent article.

To read the full report click here.