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Overarching Theme A

GOV.BB

GOV.BB is the single, trusted front door for all government information and services in Barbados — consistent, accessible, and built to earn citizen trust.

What we’re building

Epics & the forms that make them up

Each epic below groups the government forms and services this theme delivers.

Alpha.gov.bb Platform & Design System

As a citizen visiting any government website, I need every service to look, feel, and behave the same way, so that I can find what I need quickly and trust I'm in the right place.

Forms & services
  • Design system component library & documentation
  • Alpha.gov.bb website hosting & infrastructure
  • Brand guidelines & visual identity standards
  • Accessibility standards & audit programme

Content Migration to Alpha.gov.bb

As a citizen looking for government information, I need accurate, plain-language guidance in one place, so that I'm not bouncing between two competing websites trying to work out which page is current.

Forms & services
  • Full content audit of the legacy gov.bb – inventory of every page, owner, last-updated date, duplicates, and gaps
  • Headless CMS stood up as the single source of truth for alpha.gov.bb content (Strapi)
  • Content models for the core page types (guidance, news, MDA pages, service pages)
  • Bulk migration of legacy pages, news, and guidance into the CMS
  • Plain-language rewrite & accessibility pass on every migrated page
  • AI-assisted acceleration across audit, structured extraction into the CMS, plain-language drafting, and redirect-map generation – with human review before publish
  • Content ownership assigned per page or section in the CMS, so each MDA keeps its own pages current
  • 301 redirects from legacy gov.bb URLs to their alpha.gov.bb equivalents
  • Decommission of the legacy gov.bb site once migration is complete and verified

Service Finder & Information Architecture

As a citizen who needs something from government, I need to find the right service by searching for what I want to do, so that I don't have to know which ministry owns it before I can get started.

Forms & services
  • Government service search & directory
  • Topic-based navigation (life events & tasks)
  • MDA landing pages & service catalogues
  • Content standards & plain-language guidance

Public Holiday Calculator

As an employee or employer, I need to see when public holidays fall and what I'm owed if I work them, so that I can plan my time off and understand my pay without having to read the legislation myself.

Forms & services
  • This year's public holiday dates & next upcoming holiday
  • Entitlement calculator for employees required to work on a public holiday
  • Proportional entitlement for part-time workers

Annual Leave Entitlement Calculator

As an employee or small employer, I need to work out how many days of leave I'm entitled to this year, so that I can take time off or meet my obligations to staff with confidence.

Forms & services
  • Statutory minimum leave entitlement by length of service & days worked per week
  • Proportional calculation for part-time & casual workers
  • Guidance on carry-over, pay-out, and forfeiture rules

Income Tax Estimator

As a salaried employee, I need a quick way to check roughly how much income tax I should be paying, so that I can sense-check my payslip and avoid surprises at year end.

Forms & services
  • Estimated annual income tax from gross salary using current BRA rates & personal allowance
  • Monthly and annual breakdown
  • Signpost to BRA for self-employed users & tax reliefs

NIS Contributions Calculator

As a worker, I need to see what I'm paying into NIS and what I'm building up in return, so that I understand what my contributions are buying me.

Forms & services
  • Weekly & monthly NIS contributions for employed workers (employee + employer share)
  • Self-employed contribution rate calculation
  • Contribution ceiling & benefit entitlement overview

Maternity & Paternity Benefit Estimator

As a parent planning leave, I need to see roughly what NIS will pay me while I'm off, so that I can budget for time with my baby without financial uncertainty.

Forms & services
  • Estimated NIS maternity benefit based on insurable earnings & qualifying contributions
  • Paternity leave entitlement check
  • Signpost to NIS office & claim pathway

Severance Pay Calculator

As a worker who has lost or might lose my job, I need to find out what I'm legally owed in severance, so that I can stand up for my rights even if I don't know the law.

Forms & services
  • Statutory minimum severance by years of service & weekly wage (Cap. 355A formula)
  • Redundancy vs. dismissal entitlement distinction
  • Signpost to the Labour Department for binding determination

Benefits & Support Eligibility Checker

As a citizen going through a difficult patch, I need to find out what government support I might qualify for, so that I don't miss help I'm entitled to simply because nobody told me it existed.

Forms & services
  • Eligibility signposting across welfare, disability, and financial assistance programmes
  • Guided question flow (employment status, household size, income band, dependants, age)
  • Programme availability status (open / closed / waitlisted)

Import Duty Estimator

As an individual or small business importing goods, I need to know upfront what duties and levies I'll have to pay, so that I can decide whether the purchase makes sense before the shipment lands.

Forms & services
  • Duty estimate by item category, declared value, and country of origin
  • De minimis threshold check (below which no duty is payable)
  • VAT & environmental levy visibility alongside import duty