Topic: Civil Service
Paid suspensions abolished for civil servants awaiting criminal trials
Under new personnel regulations, the Civil Service no longer has to wait for the outcome of a criminal trial to determine if staff who have been arrested and charged should lose their jobs.
Ombudsman taking legal action to prevent being forced to retire
Ombudsman Sharon Roulstone is taking legal action against Governor Jane Owen to try to prevent being forced to retire before her seven-year contract is completed.
Civil servants, pensioners and seafarers to get $500 gift from government
Civil servants, seafarers, pensioners and those on long-term financial assistance are to get a one-off payment of $500 as a festive thank-you from the coalition government.
‘Hiring freeze’ in force as government looks to cut spending
Government is implementing a hiring freeze on all non-essential positions amid projections it will run out of cash by the end of the year.
Parliament passes civil service term limits for non-Caymanians
Government and opposition members both clashed and cooperated in a fiery final day in Parliament on Friday before breaking for the summer recess.
Private sector left out as civil service parental leave benefits increase
While Caymanian mom Bethany Ebanks-Pacheco welcomed news that civil servants will benefit from increased parental leave, she says government missed a chance to announce similar benefits for the private sector.
Government spends $3.6 million on its top 10 earners in 2022
The government's top ten earners received $3.6 million between them last year – an average of $362,000 per person, according to a newly published public interest report.
Premier says civil servant jobs are safe amid call for budget cuts
Premier Wayne Panton has assured civil servants they will not lose their jobs or have wages slashed, after last month telling public sector heads to help cut nearly $50 million from the collective budget.
Governor: Auditor General report leak will be investigated
Governor Martyn Roper and Deputy Governor Franz Manderson have both expressed concern over the leaking of a yet-to-be-published Auditor General report, saying the matter will be investigated.
Civil service size and salaries increased in 2020
The size of Cayman’s civil service is growing and average government salaries reached a record high in 2020, according to a new government report.
Gov’t looking at mandatory vaccines for contracted civil servants
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson has said the civil service will join the elected government in looking at developing legislation to require civil servants on government contracts to be vaccinated.
Bryan seeks full Caymanian leadership
Should all leadership positions in Cayman be reserved for sons of the soil? George Town Central legislator thinks so.
Government to hire former convicts in pilot program
The Portfolio of the Civil Service is launching a program to hire people who have been previously been convicted in court.
Civil Service College nets another class of graduates
Twenty-eight civil servants graduated recently with certificates, associate degrees and bachelor degrees from the Civil Service College.
Roydell Carter retires from civil service
After nine months on required leave for unspecified reasons, Roydell Carter, director of the Department of Environmental Health, has chosen to “retire” from the civil service, according to a statement from government Tuesday.
Civil service pay increase: Bigger paychecks, no healthcare costs
Cayman’s civil servants have welcomed the news that they will be receiving larger paychecks next month after Premier Alden McLaughlin announced a 5 percent pay increase backdated to July 1.
EDITORIAL – Tick-tock goes the Choudhury clock: Where is our governor?
The longer this issue remains unresolved, the greater the reputational damage that continues to accrue – certainly to Governor Choudhury but also to the U.K. and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Ex-civil servant jailed for 15 months
Former civil servant Trisha Marissa Jackson was sentenced on Monday to 15 months immediate imprisonment for theft, false accounting and obtaining property by deception.
Guest column: The red tape fiasco
You do not have to be a governor or a rocket scientist to figure out that the islands are awash in red tape.
Ex-civil servant jailed for 15 months
Trisha Marissa Jackson, 39, was sentenced on Monday to 15 months’ immediate imprisonment for offenses of dishonesty while she worked as a civil servant between 2011 and 2016.
Training designed to increase efficiency
The Cayman Islands government is spending $60,000 to train 100 workers to be better at recognizing viable projects its various ministries should pursue.
EDITORIAL – Gov. Choudhury puts government on ‘burn notice’
Governor Anwar Choudhury has pledged to “shred or burn policies or bits of bureaucracy” that serve no apparent purpose. We say: “Burn, baby, burn.”
Governor pledges to ‘burn away’ Cayman’s sprawling bureaucracy
Cayman Islands Governor Anwar Choudhury wants to “burn or shred” bureaucratic civil service policies that seem to serve no other purpose than creating “soul-destroying” busy-work for government employees and endless frustration for the people those workers are supposed to assist.
Government job numbers higher after ‘austerity’
The Cayman Islands civil service employed more staff at the end of 2017 than it did in 2008-2009 at the start of public sector austerity measures enacted just after the global financial crisis, an auditor general’s office report has revealed.
EDITORIAL – A ‘Trumpian move’ that Cayman should emulate
With a series of executive orders, U.S. President Donald Trump has cut the ropes that tied the hands of managers hoping to hold their government departments and agencies to appropriately high standards. Cayman Islands legislators should do the same.
EDITORIAL – Investigations into government employees continue to grow
A probe into the possible misuse of government resources adds yet another name to the already-lengthy list of public officials who have been sidelined by investigation.
Immigration Department faces dissolution in merger
The Cayman Islands Immigration Department will likely no longer be a standalone public sector entity, once the local government finishes a series of reorganizations it is making within the civil service, the Cayman Compass has learned.
Civil service makeup changes little over 5 years
The Cayman Islands government service is slightly better paid, a bit more Caymanian and has a few more female workers than it did five years before 2016.
EDITORIAL – Hiring authority: It must not be delegated or usurped
What Deputy Governor Franz Manderson knows, and former Deputy Governor Donovan Ebanks ought to know, is that department heads – not appointed commissions – MUST be empowered to make hiring decisions.
EDITORIAL – Healthcare obligations: The straight story (minus the sugarcoating)
Every citizen of these fair isles should be asking whether they are comfortable spending “hundreds of millions” of dollars each year of their hard-earned money to pay the healthcare benefits promised to our civil servants by our vote-seeking politicians.
Civil servants avoid healthcare fees for now
The roughly 3,600 people now employed within the central Cayman Islands government service will not be required to pay a portion of their monthly healthcare costs, Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson said Wednesday.
Public pension payments to increase again
For the second time in as many years, the Cayman Islands government is expected to increase its annual pension payments to cover civil service workers’ retirement plans.
Auditors: Government personnel costs ‘understated’ by millions
The Cayman Islands government spends about 68 percent of its annual budget on employee payroll, according to estimates compiled this week by the auditor general’s office.
EDITORIAL – Time for reflection: How does our civil service see itself?
In recent years, the idea of “engagement” has become a sort of philosopher’s stone of managerial alchemy – a one-size-fits-all metric for everything from boosting customer loyalty to teaching early literacy to fostering a productive workplace.
Survey: Government workers largely satisfied
A new survey shows Cayman government workers are largely satisfied with their jobs. The internally conducted poll asked nearly 2,300 civil service employees about the work they perform, their management and questions about their personal lives.
Higher turnover for public school teachers, gov’t lawyers
A total of 127 teachers and 13 legal practitioners have left the Cayman Islands civil service within the past two years, according to human resources management documents released to the Legislative Assembly last week.
Civil service retains older workers
The Cayman Islands government now has 261 workers over age 60 in its ranks, following a change to the public sector’s retirement age last year.
Government to limit paid suspension time for civil servants
A proposal to limit the time a Cayman Islands government employee can remain on paid leave during a criminal investigation will go to Cabinet members later this year, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson said Friday.
Civil servants read to Lighthouse students
Civil servants celebrated International Literacy Day on Sept. 8 by reading aloud to students at the Lighthouse School and donating 23 books to the school’s library.
Civil service decade-long hiring ‘moratorium’ ends
A hiring “moratorium” that a number of government managers complained was slowing efforts to fill civil service job vacancies for the last 10 years has ended.
Public sector losing $38.5 million on health insurance costs
Cayman Islands public sector entities will lose a combined $38.5 million over the next three years, largely because the government insurer expects to pay much more to cover future healthcare premiums for uninsured residents.
Government staff increased 3% in 2016
Nearly 6,000 people worked in the Cayman Islands public sector during 2016, according to figures produced by the government. From year to year, the total number of public sector employees grew by 152 workers, 132 of them Caymanians. The public sector employment was about 75 percent Caymanian and 25 percent non-Caymanian.
EDITORIAL – Government liabilities: When the bills approach the billions …
The country’s unfunded healthcare liability, now estimated at $1.7 billion for retiring and retired public employees, is an aneurysm that is going to burst.
Deputy governor concerned about ‘politicized’ civil service
A heated Legislative Assembly exchange Monday over the fate of a Cayman Islands senior prisons manager brought warnings against “politicizing” the public service from Deputy Governor Franz Manderson.
EDITORIAL – Celebrate growth: Kiss a stingray, hug a Cayman voter
Although as we have noted above, stingrays are extremely valuable to Cayman’s economy, in the coming decades our country cannot hope to pay for the salaries, benefits and retirement schemes for our overgrown civil service through stingrays alone. What Cayman needs, in brief, is more Caymanians.
EDITORIAL – Immigration arrests: Under punishment of ‘paid vacation’
The cloud of criminal suspicion and alleged malfeasance enshrouding the Immigration Department is a real and reputational threat to the Cayman Islands. Public statements and paid suspensions are an insufficient response.
EDITORIAL – ‘Project Future’: A progress report (minus the progress)
The Ernst & Young report on reducing the size and cost of the Cayman Islands civil service, it seems, was just a fantasy. Project Future – the government’s ongoing reinterpretation of the EY Report – is shaping up to be something else entirely.
Project future total: Three down, 41 to go, 8 uncertain
The Cayman Islands government has completed three “projects” as part of an effort to restructure the civil service for better efficiency and lower costs, according to a report issued Friday.
EDITORIAL – A modest attempt to tame Cayman’s public authorities
The good news about the Public Authorities Bill is that it aims to make Cayman Islands statutory authorities and government-owned companies operate more like central government.
Gov’t to pay 17% toward pensions
Cayman Cabinet members have approved a $16 million additional annual payment toward the “funding deficiency” in the main civil service employees’ retirement plan, to be made in monthly installments for the forseeable future.
36 percent of civil service employees are eligible to retire
About 1,300 employees in the Cayman Islands civil service – more than one-third of the entire workforce – could retire as of today if they wished. About 200 of those employees are age 60 or older and have been allowed to continue working past what had been the normal retirement age (60) until the law was changed in September.
Inmates’ project wins Pirates Week float prize
One of the winning floats at Saturday’s Pirates Week parade was built by inmates of Northward Prison who put their carpentry skills to work by building a prize-winning wagon. Members of the prison workshop built the wagon around the Pirates Week theme of “Age of Romance.”
Male prison managers win gender discrimination case
Four male Cayman Islands prison service managers who alleged they were “unequally remunerated” for performing essentially the same value work as a female supervisor who was paid more and given greater benefits, won their case before the four-member Gender Equity Tribunal this month.
31 graduate from Civil Service College
Thirty-one government workers graduated from the Cayman Islands Civil Service College last week. Of the graduates, 22 earned honors or merits, achieving GPAs of 3.5 or 3.0 and above, respectively, according to a government press release.
Civil servants wear pink to support Lions Club’s breast cancer awareness effort
Government workers, members of the public and Acting Deputy Governor Stran Bodden donned pink on Friday to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Civil servants join domestic abuse campaign
Civil servants joined with the Business and Professional Women’s Club Friday to make a symbolic stand against domestic violence Friday at the Government Administration Building.
Around the world
Today's editorial cartoon.
Civil service pulling employees off paid suspension
The Cayman Islands government service is bringing back to work some employees who were suspended as a result of suspected criminal activity and instituting internal disciplinary proceedings against them for “gross misconduct” after they return.
EDITORIAL – Civil service: Judges are not HR managers
The threshold for dismissal of an employee is not equivalent to criminal charges, convictions or prison terms; rather, it is an independent standard set by the individual employer that, in general, can be described as “acceptable professional behavior.”
Former administrator retires after more than 33 years
Henry Parchment has retired from his post as financial administrator for the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure after serving more than 33 years in the civil service.
Veteran customs managers retiring
Two senior managers at the Cayman Islands Customs Department will retire effective July 1, leading to a significant reshuffling in the upper ranks of the service.
EDITORIAL – The necessary wall between MLAs and civil servants
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson etched a definitive and necessary line in the floor of the House, demarcating where the remit of lawmakers ends — and where the apolitical civil service begins.
31 civil servants on paid leave
Thirty-one Cayman Islands civil servants are on suspension with pay over various issues, including criminal allegations, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson confirmed Wednesday.
Government bonus payment expanded
More Cayman Islands government workers will be receiving a modest bonus in their paychecks this month.
‘Hollywood’ civil service gets more staff
The Cayman Islands civil service will have fewer “actors” but will likely gain additional employees as job vacancies are filled in the coming months, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson told the Legislative Assembly last week.
Government pays $18 million to fund pensions
The Cayman Islands government will give an extra $18 million to its Public Service Pensions Board to “catch up” what a 2014 financial evaluation said it should pay toward the main civil service retirement fund for most older government workers, Finance Minister Marco Archer said last week.
Bills: Confidentiality changes, civil service retirement age
Another raft of legislative changes, mostly related to Cayman’s financial reporting mechanisms and civil service work rules, are due to come before the Legislative Assembly this month.
Lawmakers will not get 2.2 percent bonus
Cayman Islands elected officials will not receive a modest bonus being given to civil servants this month, Finance Minister Marco Archer confirmed Monday.
Cayman’s 20-year pension bill: $320 million
The Cayman Islands government has been advised to pay an additional $16 million a year for the next 20 years to help settle funding deficiencies in one of its civil service pension plans.
Budget: Major development, pay bonuses ahead
The upcoming government budget incorporates aspects of a development agreement between the Cayman Islands public sector and the Dart group of companies, Premier Alden McLaughlin announced Monday.
Howell named to top ministry post
Wesley Howell is about to become a very busy man.
Job transfers, new retirement age for civil service employees
The Cayman Islands deputy governor will be allowed to transfer or even assign lower pay grades to civil service employees in circumstances where a Caymanian job-seeker has applied for what is considered to be a “key” position, according to proposed legislation made public this week.
