Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley revealed during the recent budget presentation that the government has allocated close to $10 million to ensure no public officer earns below the minimum living wage, which consultants found to be $23,719.80 per year in the Virgin Islands.
The Premier stated that some 60% of government employees can currently be classified as “working poor” based on the findings of the ongoing compensation review.
The review uncovered that 17.3% of civil servants earn below the living wage amount, while another 42.6% barely earn above that threshold, leaving minimal capacity to save, invest or handle emergencies.
The $10 million budget allocation will be used specifically to lift the salaries of government workers found to be earning poverty-level wages in the review.
While he said that the government itself cannot unilaterally decide the new national minimum wage, Premier Wheatley expressed confidence that solutions can emerge through open national dialogue on this urgent issue.