Lawyer to govt: Fund wages of citizens on national duty

The government, not private employers, should pay the wages of citizens called to represent the country in sport or other forms of national service, a lawyer suggested on Tuesday, warning that the current system unfairly burdens businesses.

Speaking on the issue of whether leave for national representation should be paid or unpaid, Kristin Turton made a case for direct government intervention, stressing that the financial burden should not fall on private businesses.

“A lot of national duty is sport-related,” she said. “There are other areas, too, but I think a lot of people think of national duty when you represent your country. And I think that’s important. I just don’t necessarily think the employer should be the one paying for it.”

Turton proposed that when Barbadians are called upon to represent the nation, particularly in international sporting events, the State should underwrite their income for the period of service.

“I think that when we ask people to represent our country, that we should be having the government pay the employee when they travel,” she said. “Every association is different. So you may have a small association, and that association does not have the money to pay people they’re selecting – the coach or the employee.”

Turton said the financial realities of businesses – large and small – must be taken into account.

“Every business is not the same. And you might even have a big business with small margins. And I might not be able to afford to pay you for the two weeks – it might be two weeks, it could be four. If you go to the Commonwealth Games, that’s a three-week trip and it’s not a vacation,” she explained.

Drawing on her personal experience, she recalled: “I went to India in 2010. That was not a vacation; it was far. When I came back, I was tired, but I had to go back to work.”

Turton also raised concerns about the impact on self-employed individuals, who often lack the safety net of employer support.

“What about those who are self-employed doing national duty? They lose income. People have had to make decisions where they say they are not going to represent Barbados because they can’t afford to leave,” she pointed out.

The attorney highlighted the irony that many of those best positioned to train and compete – the self-employed – are often the ones who must opt out due to income loss.

“Funny enough, it’s those who are self-employed who might have the most flexibility to train to represent the country. So I don’t think employers should be required to do that. I don’t think it’s fair and reasonable to them,” she said.

“I do think that it is necessary that employees still be paid when they’re making that sacrifice for their country, and that should come from the government directly.” 

(SZB)