The Parliament of the Cayman Islands has passed legislation introducing term limits for non-Caymanian civil servants for the first time.
The Public Service Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025 passed with support from both government and opposition members after lengthy debate on 27 June.
The law will limit non-Caymanian government employees to nine years of service. This matches rules already in place for private sector workers.
Acting Deputy Governor Gloria McField-Nixon thanked lawmakers for their support, calling it “a historic moment”.
She said the bill would allow the government to “make regulations to govern the employment of non-Caymanians in the civil service”.
The legislation comes after the civil service was excluded from immigration term limits when they were first introduced 20 years ago.
Permanent residents
McField-Nixon told parliament that non-Caymanian civil servants make up 4% of the total non-Caymanian workforce in the Cayman Islands.
She added that they make a “negligible contribution” to the number of permanent residents in Cayman, accounting for only 173 of all permanent residency recipients as of March 2024.
The average foreign civil servant currently works for 5.8 years, the acting deputy governor noted.
This means most non-Caymanians in the civil service exit long before they meet the current nine-year requirement to be eligible for consideration to receive permanent residency.
Political support
Employment and immigration minister Michael Myles strongly supported the bill.
“This government says enough is enough. We will no longer tolerate this, not from the private sector or public sector, and not from any employer in our country,” he said.
Deputy opposition leader Kenneth Bryan also backed the legislation but raised concerns about proposed exemption powers.
“The topic of immigration is a very sensitive one, very emotive, and we shall not fall for the gossip and rumours… we have to do this right because it could have severe consequences,” he said.
Special provisions
The term limits will begin on 1 January, 2026, for current employees.
“Had term limits been applied retroactively, the Department of Education and the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service would suffer catastrophic operational failures,” McField-Nixon said.
“The education department would lose 126 staff and police would lose 89 staff within the first year of implementation.”
The bill includes provisions allowing temporary exemptions for up to two years in special circumstances. These must be approved by Cabinet and reported publicly each year.
Key departments that would be most affected include education, police, prisons and social services.
The legislation also allows the government to designate certain positions as ‘Caymanian only’. It requires non-Caymanian employees to help train their local successors.
The bill passed its final reading and became law the same evening.
