Frustrated former hotel workers, including those from the Accra Beach Hotel and Spa, have been given the assurance that they will receive outstanding severance despite continuous broken promises from their previous employer.
Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan was responding to a fresh round of protests involving severed Accra Beach employees and those from the Hilton Barbados Resort, who were left on the breadline in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After loud protests last December, the former Accra staff secured over 70 per cent of their outstanding pay with a promise from management, backed by tourism minister Senator Lisa Cummins that the remaining monies, including payment in lieu of notice, would be delivered no later than the 31st of March.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY on Friday Minister Jordan made it clear that employers have a legal obligation to cover severance payments in full.
But he gave the assurance that Government, through the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) would “do right by the workers” and deliver the outstanding payments before going after the delinquent bosses. He stated that the NIS was actively examining the matter.
“Government has taken a decision to first indicate to employers that payment of severance is their responsibility. If an employer defaults on that responsibility, government has taken the position that government will make the payment, and do right by the workers. In other words, we will not leave our workers strung out. If the employer had made an arrangement to pay the workers, then government would not have gotten involved,” Jordan told Barbados TODAY.
“Now that we know that the payment that was promised at a particular time has not been made, then it is incumbent on the National Insurance Department to follow up with the employer, and if the employer is unable to pay, then the National Insurance Department will make that consideration in its own jurisdiction within its ambit and make any payments that the law allows it to make. And then the National Insurance Department will go forward and make enforcement on the employer,” the Labour minister added.
So serious are the administration’s intentions, they passed a bill on Tuesday to further expedite the process, which was created through temporary ‘sunset legislation’ changes to the Severance Payments Act late last year.
Jordan acknowledged that the workers’ frustration is “understandable”. But in response to claims that his ministry has been silent on the plight of workers, the minister declared that employers were being confronted though it might not be recorded in the media.
“Some of the action has been taken already. That is to say, there have been some decisions made – some adjudication and some persons have received payments,” he contended.
“So we have been acting, making clear first, that the responsibility for the payment of severance is the responsibility of employers and we continue, not just publicly, but speaking directly to employees to indicate to them that they have to make their payments. They have to do good by the workers who have supported them for so many years,” he added.
In the face of criticism of his counterpart in the Ministry of Tourism, Senator Cummins for failing to deliver on the promise to Accra workers of a March 31st pay day, Jordan noted that any cabinet minister making such pronouncements would have been relying on a promise from the employer.
“An assurance from an employer is not something that a cabinet minister of the government can enforce because it is a date given by the employer and government, just like the worker hopes that the employer will stick to its word,” explained the labour minister. (kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)
