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All States employees will receive pay awards for 2020, it has been confirmed, however the purse strings will be tightened next year as the island's largest employer is "already spending more money than it can afford".
Many of the 2020 pay awards were agreed by the previous P&R Committee earlier this year. Outstanding discussions were suspended so that government could focus on its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The committee has now agreed the 2020 pay for those outstanding groups, as well as the 2021 awards for all 15 pay groups. Around 6,000 States employees will receive increases for 2020, most of those in line with inflation.
One exception is Agenda for Change staff - health and care workers, including nurses and midwives - as the previous committee implemented a 5% increase for 2020 earlier this year.
Pictured: Pay award decisions for the States' 15 pay groups. Any 2020 pay award with an * next to it has been decided by the current Policy & Resources Committee and those without an asterisk were decided earlier in the year by the previous committee.
For 2021, most employees will not see an increase, again with some exceptions. Agenda for Change staff will receive a further 5% increase, while the ‘Public Sector Employees’ pay group - which includes many of the States' lowest paid staff such as manual workers - will get an inflationary increase of 2.4%.
Deputy David Mahoney, who leads on the States’ role as employer for the Policy & Resources Committee, said they had tried to balance a desire to reward employees' efforts in going "above and beyond in exceptional circumstances", with the need for "appropriate restraint regarding public sector pay costs."
“We are in a period that is already having a serious impact on public finances, and there is more uncertainty ahead as we cannot know for sure how long we will be dealing with the pandemic and its long-term repercussions on our economy and the global economy," said Deputy Mahoney.
"We need to recognise that as things stand currently, we are spending more than we can afford, and we cannot allow those costs to continue to rise.
“The decisions made by the committee reflect the real-world situation where cost control is more vital than ever.
“We believe we are being firm but realistic in what we’ve agreed in terms of pay. While some may be disappointed, I would hope most would understand the position in which we find ourselves, and I hope none of our public sector staff consider for one moment that we are not incredibly grateful for what they have achieved this year. Across all areas, the performance in stepping up to meet this pandemic and protect our community has been exemplary.”
Pictured top: Deputy David Mahoney, who leads on the States’ role as employer for the Policy & Resources Committee.
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