WILLEMSTAD – The professional association representing Curaçao’s medical specialists has lost a lawsuit against HNO Transitie en Exploitatie N.V., the managing entity of the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC). The dispute centered on whether the hospital could continue paying salaries above the legal cap during a transitional period, despite the enforcement of the National Ordinance on the Standardization of Top Incomes (LNT).
The specialists claimed that CMC had previously promised to raise their salaries during the transition phase through indexation, salary increases, and variable compensation—even if those increases exceeded the legally mandated maximum. They asked the court to formally recognize these commitments and requested back pay from 2021 through the end of 2024. They also demanded compensation from January 2025 onward, proposing a three-year period to adjust their salaries to the new legal limits.
However, the court dismissed these claims.
While the 2019 agreement titled "Compensation of Medical Professionals" does mention that salaries should be indexed every two years based on the cost of living, the court emphasized that the LNT law, which came into effect on December 21, 2022, supersedes such provisions. This law imposes a cap on the salaries of top officials in publicly funded or government-linked institutions, including CMC.
It was previously established that the law applies to medical specialists as well. Therefore, the judge ruled that any additional payments—whether from indexation, extra salary increases, or performance-based bonuses—that exceed the LNT ceiling are unlawful, even if they were agreed upon in earlier contracts.
Currently, the annual salary of a medical specialist at the CMC ranges between 300,000 and 660,000 Netherlands Antillean guilders, depending on experience and years of service.
The ruling marks a significant decision in the ongoing debate over salary regulation in Curaçao’s public healthcare sector, reinforcing the legal authority of the LNT in limiting top-level earnings.
