Cabinet approves of sweeper/cleaners at public schools receiving full-time contracts with gratuity   

The Cabinet, under the chairmanship of His Excellency President Irfaan Ali, has recently instructed that sweeper/cleaners at all public schools be immediately offered employment on a full-time contract gratuity basis at the public service minimum wage level. The Cabinet gave this directive in order for steps to be taken to regularize the manner in which sweeper/cleaners are employed and paid at public schools. Sweeper-cleaners have long expressed the desire to also be considered as regular employees at public institutions and receive similar benefits.

This decision brings to closure a long outstanding matter which has affected this category of workers in the public school system. Additionally, steps have also been initiated to address other pending anomalies in the salaries being paid to other categories of employees, including some teachers who are affected by inconsistencies in their pay grades depending on the year in which they were appointed. Government has already started working to take stock of this problem with a view to resolving it going forward.

These initiatives all form part of this Government’s ongoing efforts to improve the conditions of employment of public sector workers. In December 2020, central government employees received a one-off grant of $25,000, while in December 2021, they received an across-the-board seven percent increase. This increase was provided for teachers, members of the disciplined services, constitutional office holders, as well as government pensioners. Additionally, government restored the one-month tax free bonus paid to members of the disciplined services, which had been discontinued by the APNU/AFC while they were in office.

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