INCREMENTAL MOVEMENTS ALONG SALARY SCALES AMOUNT TO APPROXIMATELY 7.5% INCREASE FOR MOST PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS IN FY 2025/26 – FINANCE MINISTER

­­­­­­­­Kingston, Jamaica: Monday, June 23, 2025

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, has today advised that the movement of up to three (3) increments in the substantive salary scales for all eligible public sector workers will amount to an increase in basic salary of approximately 7.5% for most public sector workers. She has contrasted this agreement with the norm before the comprehensive salary reform of 2022, in which only one (1) increment would be made in a year, and such a move was also tied to receiving 75% or more on the Performance Management and Appraisal System (PMAS).

Minister Williams notes that the payment of up to three (3) increments in FY 2025/26 was arrived at through engagement with the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).

“Some ministries, departments and agencies have already made the payments to their public sector workers, and other entities are working toward effecting the payments in keeping with the timeline to pay by the end of this month,” Minister Williams said.

Minister Williams observed that this adjustment is part of ongoing efforts to enhance the remuneration framework in a fair and fiscally sustainable way. She added that,

“This increase has been agreed even as we continue to explore the method by which performance should be assessed”.

Minister Williams emphasised that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service will continue to engage with the various unions and associations across the public service to refine the compensation structure in a way that is fair, transparent and aligned with the need to ensure fiscal sustainability.

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