Guernsey public sector staff to have pay frozen in 2021

Politicians acknowledged the pay freeze decision would not be welcomed

The majority of Guernsey's public sector employees are to have their pay frozen in 2021.

The Policy and Resources Committee said it was describing it as a "firm but realistic" response to financial pressures created by Covid-19.

Agenda for Change staff, which includes nurses and midwives are among the exceptions, and will see rises of 5%.

Some of the lower paid, including manual workers, would see a rise of 2.4%, officials said.

'Uncertainty ahead'

The majority of staff were seeing increases in 2020 generally in line with inflation for the current year, except those who had already seen rises awarded in the last States term, officials said.

The committee's lead on employment, David Mahoney, acknowledged the decision would not be welcomed.

He said that, while "some may be disappointed", he hoped staff and unions would recognise that, in the current financial climate, it was not possible to award more.

He said: "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.

"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."

He added: "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."