Statutory Workers Excluded from Government Bonus Package

By Admin. Updated 1:50 p.m., and 3:06 p.m. Friday, January 23, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

Workers at statutory bodies and companies will not receive the government’s salary bonus, scheduled for payment at the end of this month.

Prime Minister Dr Godwin Friday disclosed this at a press conference today (23 January). He encouraged statutory bodies able to do so to follow the government’s lead.

“For the ones that are able to do so, they can follow the lead of the central government and offer similar packages to their employees,” the Prime Minister said. He added that the boards of statutory bodies are undergoing changes since the new administration took office. “Their boards will have to make a decision when they are properly constituted,” he said.

These bodies include entities such as VINLEC, CWSA, SVG Port Authority, MPOC, SVG Community College, BRAGSA, NIS, SVG Tourism Authority, National Parks, Rivers, and Beaches Authority, Argyle International Airport Inc., Carnival Development Corporation, Medical Cannabis Authority, National Properties Ltd, and the National Broadcasting Corporation, among others.

The exclusion of statutory workers is a slight deviation from the previous government’s last payment of a benefit called COLA where all public servants and many statutory workers received three percent of their salaries for three months from November. That three percent payment was criticized by some persons. (Updated).

Dr Friday also announced an expansion of eligibility beyond central government employees. Pensioners will each receive a tax-free bonus of $1,500. Public servants will receive $2,000 each, while daily-paid workers will receive a bonus of $1,000, also tax-free, on their salary.

Some 12,000 persons will benefit from the initiative.

The initiative fulfils a campaign promise by the New Democratic Party (NDP), though it has sparked controversy. During the campaign, some NDP members suggested public servants would receive double salary, a claim later clarified as a bonus rather than an extra salary.

Dr Friday explained that the measure aims to ease the cost of living and stimulate economic activity. He noted that it targets those categories of workers who need it most and is estimated to cost the government more than $22 million.

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