| KINGSTON, July 5 (JIS): |
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Employers paid out more than $3 million during the last fiscal year
to cover workers entitlements. Labour and Social Security Minister, Horace Dalley while making his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate last Wednesday (June 30) told members of the House that this was due to the work of the Pay and Conditions of Employment Branch of the Ministry which received 1,747 complaints from non-unionised workers of which 200 inspections were done and 279 investigations carried out. He said up to January of this year five inspection officers have been trained and certified and will be assigned to St. Mary, St. Ann, St. James and Hanover. Minister Dalley said he was concerned about “non-unionised workers such as security guards, shop clerks, domestic helpers, agricultural labourers and others” who were sometimes denied access to basic benefits, and the rights of workers such as holiday with pay, sick and maternity leave. He encouraged all employers to ensure that the benefits were extended as provided for in the law and in keeping with the commitment to decent work as promoted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Minister Dalley further cited instances in which he said, “some workers, in particular security guards, are treated as independent contractors and it is therefore argued that they are not entitled to certain benefits.” He contended that security guards were “being employed on terms and conditions consistent with that of a worker but are not being treated as workers in respect of benefits.” The Labour and Social Security Minister informed that he would be taking a proposal for an amendment to the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act (LRIDA) to the Labour Advisory Committee (LAC), to permit the individual worker to have access to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, as under the present provisions individuals not covered by a collective bargaining unit could not take their case to the tribunal for adjudication. Mr. Dalley also divulged that there would be an annual review of the Minimum Wage in order to avoid sharp increases at a single point in time. He added that recommendations have been made for a new minimum wage to become effective in January 2005. |
