Governor Kenneth Mapp on Monday at the West Indian Company in St. Thomas made some announcements affecting government employees and the wider territory, the most significant being the signing of an executive order that increases the base pay of the entire executive branch of government, which includes most government employees, bar the legislative and judicial branches of government, along with government-owned autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies. The governor encouraged the aforementioned to increase their minimum wage as well.
As of August 1, the minimum wage of government employees in the executive branch will be $13 per hour or $27,040 annually. Before the governor’s executive order, the minimum wage of government employees stood at $9.61 per hour, or $20,000 annually. The minimum wage of private sector employees currently stands at $10.50 per hour.
Teachers have long been calling for a salary increase, and Mr. Mapp is hoping that the base pay raise will help slow the flow of educators who leave the territory for better paying education jobs on the mainland.
“It’s about providing a living wage for workers in the Virgin Islands,” the governor said, giving a reason for his momentous action.
Along with the Department of Education, the following departments and agencies were also included in the governor’s executive order for base pay increases.
Enforcement Officer Recruit: $33,000 while on probation; $38,000 once probation period is completed.
An Environmental Officer of any rank beneath the rank of chief who completes and maintains an annual certification as a registered EMT, Basic, will receive a salary increase of $4,500 annually.
Enforcement Officer Recruit: $33,000 on probation; $38,000 once probation period is completed.
The salary of a Corrections officer of any rank below chief will increase by $4,500 annually once this officer completes and maintains EMT, Basic, certification.
Fire Fighter Recruit: $33,000 during probation period; $38,000 upon completion of probation.
The salary of a firefighter in any rank beneath chief increases by $4,500 if this firefighter is able to maintain EMT, Basic certification.
Base salary for police officers was increased from $30,715 to $40,953 in June. However, it was also included in the governor’s executive order (albeit at a lesser amount of $40,000).
Governor Mapp told The Consortium that the salary increases will be paid for and sustained by economic growth, including the recently ratified oil refining agreement on the south shore of St. Croix, along with economic activity spurred by hurricane recovery projects.
Because of a text error, our original title for this story said the minimum wage for government employees was raised to $13.25, however, the correct figure is $13.
The government minimum wage as $9.61, not 7.25. We’ve updated the story.