fp Turks and Caicos

Two thirds of all 600 weekly paid government employees requested quotes for how much they would receive if they accepted the interim government’s voluntary severance package.

That’s three times the rate of monthly employees considering the offer to take cash to leave their government jobs in the offer aimed at reducing the 2,200-member government workforce, according to government CEO Patrick Boyle.

Nearly 700 employees — about one-third of all government employees — requested quotes on how much the would receive under the buyout packages and by now must have decided whether to accept the offers. Government has said it is looking to reduce the staff by 200-300 to cut its single largest expenditure, which consumes nearly half its budget.

If enough civil servants don’t accept the offer, some will be forced off their jobs “via a subsequent compulsory scheme whose terms will be less favourable than the voluntary programme,” the government has said.

Even if employees accept the package, that doesn’t mean they will get it. Government has reserved the right not to grant the package to people who it believes are essential employees that cannot be done without.

Monthly paid employees can get up to two years’ salary severance pay, which they can take in monthly or quarterly installments. Weekly paid employees can get up to two weeks salary for every year of employment.

All civil service employees took a 10-percent pay cut in April 2010 as the interim government tried to quell budget deficits caused by lagging revenues and a growing civil service.

The severance packages are based on wages before the 10-percent cut. Workers who accept the package will be barred from return to employment in government and statutory bodies for four years.

The severance offer is similar to those offered to U.K. civil servants. The offers prompted strikes in the U.K. and the TCI, a U.K. overseas territory, both of which are cutting costs and increasing taxes in an attempt to recover from the worldwide economic meltdown that began in 2008.

The interim government is offering voluntary severance as part of a larger effort to reform the civil service to reduce costs and increase efficiency. It is one of eight milestones set by U.K. ministers to return the country to elected government, which was suspended in August 2009 when the country was near bankruptcy and awash in allegations of widespread government corruption.