Base Pay for VI Teachers to Start at $44K from August 1, Gov't Minimum Wage Rises to $13/Hour

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.

Along with the minimum wage increase for government employees, the governor also announced increases in starting salary for all departments and agencies, including the Department of Education: Beginning August 1, the starting salary of teachers territory-wide will be $44,000 annually, or roughly $21.15 per hour. (If a teacher’s base salary is at or above $44,000 annually, this teacher will see no change in pay, the governor said.)

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.

Read more: https://viconsortium.com/news-2/base-pay-for-teachers-to-start-at-44000-from-august-1-govt-minimum-wage-rises-to-13-per-hour/