This measure will be temporary and will apply only in the budgeted sector, in particular Education and Health
14ymedio, Havana, 11 August 2025 — The Cuban government will redistribute wages already budgeted for unoccupied state positions among employees who are currently working. This is stated in an agreement signed by the Council of Ministers and published on Monday in a special Official Gazette.
The legal prose does not hide the fact that the measure is intended to be an “incentive for the stability of the labor force” in the face of the “sustained increase in the labor fluctuation of the budgeted sector,” which means the loss of human resources in the State sector.
“It is considered to be additional pay and salary for all legal purposes, without its application constituting a payment system.”
The decision does not imply an increase in wages, as one of the articles clarifies: “It is considered to be additional pay and salary for all legal purposes, without its application constituting a payment system.”
It will apply to all occupational categories in the budgeted sector, including units with “special treatment” (such as military personnel or doctors on missions). However, there are exceptions to this extra payment: “The bodies and agencies of the Central State Administration and national entities that have approved differentiated salary treatments of wage increases, as well as the care units and educational institutions whose health professionals and teaching staff receive the benefit of maximum effort and overload of educational work.”
According to the resolution, it will be the heads of the various entities who assess whether “the non-implementation of the salary fund is objective” and ensure the redistribution with the salary expenditure plan allocated for the fiscal year. The distribution shall be made by means of an internal regulation drawn up by the Board of Directors of each unit, which shall include the frequency of payment.
The regulation should also contain the “source of funding”; that is, the amount of “non-implemented” money to be distributed.
“It may be granted only once or for a period of time to be determined, according to the characteristics of the work or the result that is stimulated, without this being permanent or massive,” insists the text. The regulation should also contain the “source of funding”; that is, the amount of “unimplemented” money to be distributed and the procedure for granting it, which will also depend on different factors. The “high performance criteria, differences with greater recognition of highly qualified human resources, holding positions of higher responsibility, the competency management approach and the individual distribution mechanism” will mark the differences.
Similarly, states the Gazette, the amount paid to each worker “is to be approved by the Board of Management of the budgeted unit, in agreement with the trade union organization, and reported to the General Assembly of Affiliates and Workers.”
The Government sets a deadline of 30 days for each agency to carry out an “analysis.”
From the publication of the measure, this Monday, the Government sets a deadline of 30 days for each agency to carry out an “analysis” that allows knowing “which entities are able to redistribute the salary fund” and approve the “general guidelines” to allow the payment to be redistributed.
The implementation of the resolution will also be subject to review over a period of one year and every three months, requiring an outcome report to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Prices.
In recent years, the workforce in the budgeted sector and State enterprises has been drastically reduced, mainly due to the migratory exodus and low wages, which are barely enough in a context of widespread crisis.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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