The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet Minister said yesterday that the final amendments to the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act will be passed in Parliament on Wednesday.

“They will be dealt with on Wednesday. We are still consulting with the unions and the Chamber of Commerce. They will be passed on Wednesday,” Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, told Tribune Business.

The Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act amendments, which were tabled two weeks ago, have received strong push back from the private sector. Key among employer concerns is the 67 per cent, or two-thirds increase, in the Employment Act’s redundancy pay ‘cap’.

Line staff are currently entitled to a maximum 24 weeks or six months’ redundancy pay under the Employment Act, gaining two weeks for each year they have been employed up to the 12-year ‘cap’.    

However, the Bill requires the ‘cap’ to be increased to 32 weeks (16 years) immediately upon enactment of the reforms. And, ultimately, the ‘cap’ for line staff redundancy pay is to be increased to 40 weeks some two years after the amendments are passed.

As for managerial staff, the existing 48 weeks (12 months/one year) redundancy pay maximum that they are due currently under the Employment Act is to be immediately increased to 64 weeks. Should the proposals pass, the ‘cap’ will ultimately be lifted to 80 weeks after two years.

    The proposed reforms also impose bureaucratic notification requirements on Bahamian businesses whenever they are considering redundancies, and a fine equivalent to 30 days’ extra pay for each terminated employee should these not be adhered to.

Employers will have to give relevant trade unions, or employee representatives, a “written statement” explaining the reasons for the redundancies and “facts” behind the move, along with the number and category of jobs impacted, and the timeframe over which the terminations will take place.

Prime Minister Perry Christie last week suggested that an amicable outcome could be reached over the controversial reforms, with the Government and private sector “working together, rather than against each other”.