PRB 2026 - Salaries, Pensions, Benefits: The Special Cabinet Meeting Decides

The government has approved the terms of the PRB 2026 report. The salary revision will occur in two phases, with retroactive payments and specific adjustments for pensions and benefits.

During a special Cabinet meeting on Monday, the government finalized the main terms for implementing the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) 2026 report, which governs the revision of salaries and benefits in the public service. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Paul Bérenger in the absence of the Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who was mourning the passing of his mother-in-law that occurred on Saturday.

The implementation of the report in two phases is confirmed, with "50% of the revised salary from the PRB 2026 report taking effect from January 2026, and 100% of the revised salary in January 2027." A consolidated conversion table specifying applicable salaries from January 2026 and January 2027 has been made public by the Ministry of Public Service. The Cabinet also approved that employees who would have been eligible for certain benefits – including travel grants, relocation allowances, duty-free facilities, or passage benefits – will receive these retroactively from January 1, 2026, upon full implementation of the PRB 2026.

Regarding retirees, the Cabinet decided that "the pension for former civil servants will be recalculated based on the devalued salary for the year 2026 and adjusted to the full PRB salary from January 2027."

For civil servants retiring in 2026, several specific measures have been established: the retirement capital and the one-time payment equivalent to 2% of the annual pensionable emoluments beyond 400 months of service will be calculated based on 100% of the revised salary; the monthly pension will initially be set according to the devalued salary for 2026 before being adjusted to 100% of the PRB salary in January 2027.

Accumulated sick leave and annual leave, as well as reimbursement for unused sick leave, will also be calculated based on 100% of the revised salary. The same applies to the reimbursement of unused sick leave and passage benefits for the year 2026.

The Cabinet noted that civil servants have until March 18, 2026, to opt-in for the PRB 2026 under the approved terms. The revised salaries will be paid retroactively for the period from January to March 2026.

However, the issue of the Sunday work allowance has not been settled. A high-level committee, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and head of the public service, is currently finalizing its report regarding payment allowances for agents working shifts or rosters on Sundays. Its recommendations are to be submitted to the Cabinet at a future meeting.

This special session followed the Cabinet meeting on Friday, which was unable to reach conclusions due to a lack of information deemed necessary to complete the process. Thus, Monday's meeting aimed to finalize the recommendations regarding the implementation of the report.

Made public on December 19, the PRB 2026 report recommends an average salary increase of 15.3% for civil servants, with an estimated annual cost of around Rs 10.9 billion to the State.

Guaranteed Increase of Rs 500
A minimum increase of Rs 500 is guaranteed. This is the decision made by the Cabinet. This measure is mainly aimed at civil servants who would receive less than this amount following the decision to apply only 50% of the salary revisions starting in January.

On the other hand, advisers and senior advisors, whose salaries were revised last May, will not receive any readjustment. As for those whose salaries were established by the PRB, they will have to rely on the Ministry of Public Service to ensure necessary adjustments can be made upon the renewal of their contracts.

Haniff Peerun: "The Expectations of Civil Servants Have Been Ignored"
Anger persists following the Cabinet meeting on Monday, January 26. According to Haniff Peerun, this meeting did nothing to "calm the anger and expectations of civil servants." According to the union representative, the only decision announced concerns the introduction of a new salary conversion table, including salaries for January 2027, which had not been considered until now.

"All civil servants hoped for a one-time payment of the salary adjustments, a demand to which the government has turned a deaf ear. The same disappointment is felt by employees retiring, who were expecting concrete and immediate measures. Only the travel grant and duty-free adjustments have been made earlier than expected, instead of waiting until January 2027," he lamented.

Another point of dissatisfaction: civil servants will not receive the salary adjustments recommended by the PRB at the end of this month. They should only benefit from retroactive back pay to January of this year, and only when the report officially takes effect.

Haniff Peerun also lamented a "total deadlock" in communication with the Ministry of Public Service. "Furthermore, nothing has been mentioned regarding the report on 'errors & omissions.' All this is disappointing!"