Published 5 March 2020
Buckie Got It. St. Kitts and Nevis News Source
GOVERNMENT AUXILIARY EMPLOYEES WILL SOON LEARN NEW DETAILS ABOUT THEIR PENSION PLANS, SAYS PM HARRIS
Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 04, 2020 (SKNIS): Government Auxiliary Employees (GAEs), formerly known as Non-established Workers will soon learn new details about their pension plans, said Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris at the ‘Discussions For A Stronger, Safer Future’ town hall meeting at St. Johnston Community Centre on Tuesday, March 03.
“We are soon to complete the assessment with respect to the regularization of non-establishment workers with respect to their pensions,” said Prime Minister Harris, while responding to a question from the audience. “The government, when we came to office put a Committee in place assisted by the actuary Mr. Osborne to determine the way forward. The committee has more or less 95 percent completed its work and it is left up to the Office of the Attorney-General to provide a legal opinion on one matter raised by the committee for us to be able to effect that.”
Dr. Harris said that the government is committed to seeing this process through to completion.
“This year, we certainly will complete this and have that in place in the next few months latest. So, we will make a major announcement about fulfilling a commitment that we made to correct the injustice to the Non-establishment Workers,” said the prime minister.
Prime Minister Harris spoke to reinstating of the honorarium to GAEs that was stopped in 2008.
“I want to give the assurance that the government will consider all the factors and indeed two years ago we restored the honorarium payment to all Non-established Workers and we gave the commitment which we have held through, that until we make a final determination on the matter, the honorarium will be paid every year and we have done so for the past two years.” said Dr. Harris.
The Team Unity Government activated a Pension Committee in 2017 and tasked it with devising a pension plan to benefit workers who were not entitled to a pension upon leaving government work. That committee has since presented several findings to the Cabinet. The Team Unity Government has engaged the services of an actuary to assist in resolving all outstanding issues relating to the incorporation of the Government Auxiliary Employees into the pensionable establishment.
