Creating Jobs & Respecting Workers

  • Increased the minimum wage on 4 separate occasions
  • Increased civil servants’ salaries 
  • Provided a special additional 5% increase for Nurses that has been in place since the COVID pandemic and continues 
  • Reduced income taxes from 40% to 28% 
  • Passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act to set minimum standards for workplace safety 
  • Increased the number of active employees at the NIS by [53%]: from 30,076 (year 2000) to 46,050 (year 2025). Reduced unemployment to below 10% 
  • Conducted a salary reclassification in 2008 that dramatically increased wages and salaries for most civil servants 
  • Provided paid study leave to thousands of government employees 
  • Created the YES, SET, and ON-SITE programmes to give young people valuable experience with paid internships 
  • Created a tax credit for private sector employers who hire SET interns 
  • Attracted foreign direct investments from companies including Clear Harbor , Sandals, GraceKennedy, LaVue, Rainforest Seafoods, [ETC] that have created thousands of jobs