ORANJESTAD – The Aruba government can correct a salary scale error for an employee, even though the employee lost the chance for a higher pay scale. This was determined by the Appeals Council in a case involving an administrative employee from the Department of Public Health. In the original decisions from 2015 and 2024, it was indicated that the employee’s position was valued at a maximum of scale 6. However, the government later corrected this to scale 5, acknowledging that the previous decision was based on an error. The employee opposed the decision, arguing that their work had been more impactful, and that over the years, they had trusted that moving to scale 6 was achievable.
Comparable Employees
The employee also appealed based on the principle of equality, as other similar positions were valued at higher scales. The Appeals Council did not agree with this argument. According to the judge, the case only addressed whether the error could be corrected, not the evaluation of the job description. The government demonstrated sufficient documentation, and the decision confirmed that scale 5 was the correct maximum for the role. The appeal based on expectations was not upheld, as the previous decision mentioning scale 6 did not constitute a binding commitment. The judge described it as an “expectation of future disappointment,” which does not grant the right to a higher scale.
Conflict
Additionally, the employee has already been placed in scale 5, and the correction does not affect their current salary. Therefore, the judge concluded that there was no violation of the principle of legal security. The decision confirmed that the Aruba government can correct errors in personnel decisions, even if employees had based their expectations on a different outcome over the years.
