The Public Entity Saba has raised the salary of a group of employees who earned below the minimum amount that is needed to cover their monthly costs.

The few dozen civil servants earned less than the amount that was calculated in a report by the Regioplan as the necessary minimum that a single parent needs. The Executive Council recently decided that the salaries of these civil servants go up retroactively on January 1, 2022.

The Island Council has been advocating the much-needed increase for this group of workers. However, due to financial constraints mostly caused by the free allowance which has been too low to cover the government’s operational and structural costs, it was not possible to do this sooner, explained Commissioner Bruce Zagers.

The Public Entity Saba is of the opinion that this increase can now be implemented because of the anticipated increase in the free allowance based on the new governing agreement in the Netherlands. “The Executive Council supports the position of the Island Council that correcting these salaries is a priority. Our employees work hard and should not receive a salary below the minimum amount that they need to cover their monthly costs,” Zagers said.

The Executive Council also decided that some civil servants will get a small amount added to their salary to help them with the inflation that has further raised the already high cost of living on Saba.

This measure went into effect retroactively on January 1, 2022.

The Public Entity Saba wants to have a more modern function house method for its employees. The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) has been approached to assist the Public Entity Saba with this.

GIS Saba