NASSAU, The Bahamas – Minister of Labour and the Public Service the Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle said the Ministry is attempting to bring focus and resources to areas that were long overlooked as part of its 10-point agenda that it set over three years ago to re-imagine the public service.

The Minister was speaking at the opening, Thursday, of the Ministry’s Annual Agenda and Review Exercise at the National Training Agency, January 23-24, 2025.

She said, “We are attempting to bring focus and resources to areas that were long overlooked, and we are getting the work done with limited resources, limited human resources and with limited space.

“As a result of our efforts, we have changed lives and we have jump started careers.  We have made our public service more efficient and more effective.”

The Public Service Minister added, “As I travel throughout the country, I have gotten feedback that we have improved the overall morale and satisfaction of public servants.  But we still have work to do.”

She said it is important that the Public Service Ministry continues to maintain its positive trajectory as it clears the promotions and confirmations backlog, digitalizes the document management system, upgrades HR processes, improves and consolidates accommodations, on-boards new employees and rolls out the various range of HR reforms.

“Thanks to your efforts, well over 3,000 civil servants have been promoted and that is not counting the general and administrative promotions.”

The Minister explained that the Ministry’s latest achievement is the 725 participants from the Public Service Professional Engagement Programme (PS-PEP) – formerly known as the 52 Week Programme – receiving confirmation letters, marking the fulfillment of the Ministry of Labour and the Public Service’s commitment to regularize the employment status of all eligible participants.

She noted that some have waited over a decade for action to be taken.

The Minister said thousands of public servants have received pay increases to the tune of millions of dollars and have received increased benefits through industrial agreements.

She also noted that the document digitization process continues with millions of files scanned, and the digitalization of Human Resource Management Systems continues to be fully realized.

“This year as with every year, we have some exciting things ahead of us.  The contributory pension plans loom large as a major change that will positively impact tens of thousands of public servants.”

Other projects include reforming the Employment Act, the Industrial Relations Act, the Public Service Act, General Orders to modernize the public service.

The Public Service Minister said, “We are ensuring that we adopt international standards for workers’ rights and exploring concepts like paternity leave, remote work and annual advances in the way we do work.”

She said, “We are doing the heavy lifting to bring our public service into the 21st Century.”


 

Minister of Labour and the Public Service the Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle provided an update at the Ministry’s annual agenda and review exercise, National Training Agency, Thursday, stating: "We are getting the work done with limited resources, limited human resources and with limited space."

(BIS Photos/Anthon Thompson)