Over the weekend, Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre announced that civil servants will receive a Christmas bonus alongside their December 2025 salaries for the second consecutive year following a $500 disbursement in 2024.
While the announcement has been met with enthusiasm from public officers, it has also sparked wider discussion about how success should be shared across sectors.
Speaking at the Pre-Cabinet Press Briefing on September 15, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism Dr. Ernest Hilaire, applauded the Prime Minister’s decision and used the occasion to issue a call to the private sector to follow the government’s lead and reward employees where business performance allows.
“The Prime Minister is making a powerful statement,” Hilaire said.
“He’s saying in the public space, the public servants are contributing significantly to keeping this country where it is and continue along that trajectory of success and therefore, they should share in some of the goodness that has come out of their hard work.”
Hilaire framed the government’s move not just as a fiscal decision, but as a principled commitment to valuing the contributions of workers.
“It is a philosophical principle. I believe when there are successes in the country — higher production and higher revenues — it should be shared. You can’t tell the private sector how to share their profits, but I believe the people that made it successful should benefit.”
He encouraged local businesses to examine their own financial outcomes and consider issuing holiday bonuses where feasible.
“If a business is doing well and the books are really showing it, there’s nothing wrong in sharing some of it for bonuses with their workers,” Hilaire added.
“In fact, I will call on them to follow the example of the Prime Minister, and where their businesses are doing well and enjoying the fruits of an economy that has improved, they should share it with their workers come Christmas time.”
According to the Deputy PM, the government has been able to offer these bonuses thanks to strong economic performance and better fiscal management, resulting in budget surpluses.
“We have shown surpluses, and therefore, we can say to the workers in the public service, ‘Here is part of it, benefit from that.’”
