Any employer must have a duty of due care and protection for the employee to ensure the conditions of work is healthy including having money for food. Its common sense and may lessen curruption.
On the other hand the salary should go directly to the employee and what they do is their business and the govt has no right to act as a personal banker without receiving a fee for this salary assignment or deduction service they entertain.
Similarly, the BPL should not be allowing staff to run up financial charges in owing light bills when the company is govt. supported by taxpayers.
Similarly govt vehicles should not be used for private use on taxpayer gas. Similarly govt should not be having the Bank of the Bahamas give out loans which cost the taxpayers some 300 million over the past 5 years and no public investigation etcetc. Same ol same ol.
Admire President Obama for recognising the Cuban situation as continuing because they have been doing the same things year after year and then expret some fundamental change.
Do the right thing Mr. Johnson.

**THE Government has been forced to reaffirm the 75 per cent limit on civil service salary deductions, after being “inundated” with demands for the policy’s relaxation.**

This has been a problem for decades, because we have become a materialistic society, running after our wants instead of our needs.Trying to please the proverbial Jones's have made us slaves to the institutions we work for. This has resulted in many people having sleepless nights. high blood pressure and a host of other diseases including cancer. Not taking home enough disposable income to buy the necessities of life like healthy food is also the cause of many issues in family life. Sadly the banks are feasting on consumers with their predatory lending practices.by being concerned with only their bottom line. All of the commercial banks routinely set up kiosk loan desk at all of the government corporations and hotels to entice employees into consumer loans. Personal financial education is very much needed starting in the school curriculum, but then again we have become too americanized as a society and we do what ever we see the americans do ! .

When a person is making a reasonable salary of $2,000 or $3,000 per month, but they are only receiving $400 or $500 on payday, it leads to stealing from their employer, taking of bribes, gambling, prostitution, sugar-daddy relationships etc. that lead to all kinds of corrupt and immoral compromises to their personal integrity ......... hence the breakdown in social order and decency.

I wish John2 would set up a bank that . was not designed to feast on consumers with their lending practices.and was not concerned with only their bottom line. He could call the bank of the Bahamas 2.0..

THE AD ON THE RADIO SAYS:

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE MONEY, ALL YOU HAVE TO HAVE IS SALARY TO DEDUCT.

75% in salary deduction is indentured labour.

a long time ago i worked for an organization which thrived on salary deductions. when i looked at the peoples paycheck i tried to dissuade them from getting more salary deductions and they used to get angry and say their govt salary was not their on;y income as ''they had apartments on rent''. Amazing, you get apartments on rent and now scrambling to get a 40 dollar salary deduction.

but there are predatory relatives too, As soon as their young sons join the forces and the civil service their ma and grandma force them to get salary deduction and call the wutless. i know a man who ended up in sandilands because the relatives deducted 60% of his salary and the poor fella could not even enjoy the fruits of his labor.

in a free and democratic society, gov't should not be in the business of managing your personal finances.. they should not be in the salary deduction business either.. a credit arrangement is between the parties concerned and should be governed by the risk-taking decisions of the lender, based on their lending criteria, and application of civil law for breaches of any agreement.. should gov't also tell you what to eat and when to exercise so you dont become a burden on the public health system? how far do you go? we bahamians need to learn to take ownership of our actions, good and bad...

Comrades, no greater hell bent on bankrupting workers earnings sin has ever been committed by both the Red Shirts and the PLP governing administrations than that of even permitting government salaried workers paycheques to be used as collateral against loans for any amounts money. In fact, it should become an impeachable act - punishable by Ten (10) Years Hard Labour of imprisonment to be levied against any group of governing politicians permitting such a treacherous rape of government workers paycheques. The current 4th Red Shirts governing regime must move to cancel this disgusting, financially encouraging workers to overextend their repayment capabilities - all for the greater financial benefit of the Merchants and Money Exchanges, mostly in bed with whomever just happens to be the governing politicians of the day responsible for setting down what should be the good policies of government. This policy STINKS and I have been lone voice speaking out for years against why its even allowed to exist.

Why Comrade! You deserve a red shirt for that wise missive!

Salaries are low in a number of fields, however there is no excuse for having 75% of your salary deducted before pay day. There has been no real growth for the last 10 years and it appears things will get worse. We need to go back to being less materialistic. In the article it states that one of the reasons for the increase in requests to waive the limit is due to Christmas. Whilst its nice to give family presents at Christmas, going broke to do so makes no sense. Any loving family member will understand not getting a gift. Government should either limit it to 50% or less, or say in 2 years time we will no longer be making deductions so everyone can make the necessary adjustments before it occurs.

Comrade Dawes, one has thinks that a Judge would not looks friendly towards a creditor using the court to recover a loan that they had to know the borrower's ability of repayment would be all but near starvation impossible?
Surly, Lenders and Merchants can be held liable when knowingly loaning money or extending credit to a government worker who at a 75% of their salary has be a risky insolvent borrower under ANY conditions..... other than when the government's payroll department is there to safeguard the Lender or Creditor?
Some Lawyer should put this to a Court test?

This is why we need the credit act (or whatever it is called), that was proposed by the PLP and now the FNM are saying they will do it. Currently a lot of these companies have to rely on the honesty of the person requesting the loan, so they then rely on the Government to make sure it doesn't go over 75% and they feel sure they will get paid (they are a lot less likely to do this for Private sector employees).
But all this is besides the point, none of these companies force people to take a loan. The person decides to do that. The company runs the risk of the loan not being repaid (which is why they like Government employees), however if the applicant says they can make the payments and still be OK, they will say OK. Unless you want the companies to be able to look into every detail of the applicants life to make sure they know their full in comings and outgoings so they can make a decision. Though i will agree that something should be done about the level of interest being charged as that is too high.

Comrade Dawes, if you want see how suddenly and without waiting for some Credit Bureau to open - the Banks and Merchants will know all they needs knows about you - not to loan you another red penny - just remove the umbrella of government payroll deductions. It has becomes creditors security blanket.
The PM and his red cabinet colleagues, does urgently needs start tracking suicides among government workers taking home but 25 Cents out of every $1 they've earned in wages. Its unconscionably High Treason committed against government paycheques and MUST be discontinued.

Fully agree. This is why i said Government should give 2 years notice that they are doing it, so there can be a smooth transition (well as smooth as anything can be). Problem is will the Government workers be OK with this going forward. If not then Government will not do the right thing and stop it.

Socrates you are leading Mr Johnson in what should be correct according to the Credit and Truck system where the TRUCK ACT laws was used to protect workers from exploitation by working for the merchants and forced to accept script or vouchers to only be redeemed at company stores.
Today the govt employee contract should not allow the govt to be complicit with the merchant in extracting portions of the employees paycheck when the govt or dept is not a financial agent or act in capacity of one without financial expertise and without due care and attention.
The systen also creates a false representation and unfair credit system to non govt employees who must go through a rigorous due care and attention process where the TDSR total debt service ratio of 45% income applies AND the bank has a due care to ensure the applicant can live on the remaining 55% or else no judge will agree the loan can be repaid successfully.
We need independent agencies like the 2013UK Financial Protection Bureau or the 2010 US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Comrade Bogart, using good common sense and best lending practices should apply until and if we ever get a Credit Bureau or Financial Protection Bureau kinds creditor polices.
This payroll deduction corrupt practice MUST be DISCONTINUED - not in 2 years but TODAY!
One of our senior Queen's Counsel's, should make this a test case before the courts and if required - all the way to the Privy Council in England.

Government workers want to spend................... .....
A whole lot more than their month's stipend... ..........
That's why they sometimes "cook the books"...... ................
But don't you dare to call them crooks..... ...................
Cos they only borrow 'til their number fall.................... .................
And the numbers house gives them a call.......................... ...........
And then they mean to pay their debt............................ .................
Not waste it making one more bet. ......... ...........................
They've watched the cabinet borrowing more................................... .......
As the country sinks to third world poor,................ .........................
If gander's sauce is good for goose, ....
....................
Their fists' not tight, it's largesse loose. ...

AGREED!!! it is wrong and should be stopped immediately as it is with govt being complicit in this immoral, dehumanising act enabling some govt workers to take home less than $50. per month. So who will bell da cat??

Which one??

Comrade "QC" Brian Moree, the Senior Partner of McKinney, Bancroft & Hughes and the Head of the Litigation Department...but hurry before he's elevated to Chief Justice.

Ok. Do we have a back up?

75% is too much. To break that threshold means wage slavery. In my experience in the public service it was the ones who could least afford it going to furniture stores and such places charging and charging . It was sad.