Chastising successive governments and labour stakeholders for failing to improve the country’s labour laws, former senator and Minister of State with responsibility for Labour Arni Walters has called for a revamp of the relevant legislation.
He has suggested that a national commission, with the assistance of competent advisors, be tasked to lead that effort.
Addressing the Human Resource Management Association of Barbados (HRMAB) Strategic Business Partner Bootcamp at the Sandals Royal in Maxwell, Christ Church on Thursday, Walters, who is a trustee of HRMAB, stated that stakeholders had failed miserably over the years to improve the island’s employment law and labour relations regime.
“Barbados needs to move away from the concept of pre-1966 labour legislation where there [was] the master and servant relationship of the plantation society, to a hybrid model of employer and employee, where there is improved communication and social dialogue between the partners at the domestic and national level,” he said.
“One would have thought that Barbados as an independent nation since 1966, that transitioned to a parliamentary republic in November 2021, would have had an employment law and employment relations legislative regime in place. In my view, we have failed miserably in the area of employment law and employment relations law.”
Walters explained that although the Government, trade unions, and the private sector leaders have sat and participated in the highest international employment law labour forums since the 1960s, the country’s labour laws have not been updated to suit the modern workforce.
He believes the Labour Department Act, the Severance Payment Act, the National Insurance and Social Security Act, the Trade Union Act, the Employment Rights Act, the Safety and Health at Work Act, the Employment Prevention of Discrimination Bill and the Employment Relations Bill all need critical attention and reworking.
He called for a national commission to take up the task.
“I would humbly submit that Government, through the Minister of Labour, set up an urgent commission to review the current labour and employment legislation, with a view to modernising the employment conditions of service of all employees and occupations – including those that exist in the public service, private sector, and state-owned enterprises – to conform with the modern human resource management practice,” Walters said.
However, he stressed to the room of HR professionals that competent advisors should be fully involved in the process, given the “weak” forms of consultation he has witnessed in the past.
“I am now of the view that all the partners and agencies involved in the revision process should rely on competent advisors and even that they seek funding from the Government to achieve the best possible outcomes for employers and employees alike.
“My experience has been that the Government, employers, and trade unions’ input into the consultation and drafting process, has been extremely weak in the past 30 years,” he said.
Walters insisted that the drafting and implementation of a modern employment law regime “must take into account the culture of the employment relations existing in the country in the 21st century”.
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