Public service minister backs portable benefits framework

As the workforce shifts rapidly towards freelancing, self-employment and short-term contracts, Minister of Public Service and Talent Development Kay McConney has hailed the proposed National Portable Benefits Framework as protection for workers who fall outside traditional social security systems.

The proposed system could close longstanding gaps in coverage, ensuring that non-traditional workers are not left without critical benefits, said McConney, the St Philip West MP, in the House of Assembly on Friday as she backed the resolution behind the proposal.  

She said: “I stand here wishing to be supportive of this resolution on behalf of the farmer in Ebenezer and on behalf of the mason in Chapel and countless others whose stories today might be very different had there been, in place, a structured framework for portable social security benefits.”

Beyond having a framework in place, workers must also understand and feel connected to the system, she said.

“Not just a structure in place, but one where, that framework, people were knowledgeable about it. In other words, the information was available, widely available, that they could see themselves being a part of it and that in fact they felt that the benefits were meaningful to them.”

“They knew that and that in fact, they felt supported in becoming a part of it.”

The minister described the proposal as more than just policy, calling it “a pathway to social security access” and “a pathway to peace of mind” for workers who may otherwise be excluded from traditional systems.

McConney pointed to changing employment patterns, noting that Barbados is moving away from the traditional “cradle-to-grave” employment model.

“This current generation, they are navigating more fluid economies and they are seeking many different ways of financing their lives. The cradle-to-grave model, that traditional full-time with one entity, is not really the way in which many people choose to go in 2026. 

“With that range of different models for working and financing life, we have to ensure that our current social security system, as well as our current laws, as well as the current ways in which we go about supporting people, those things have to evolve as well.”

She said the government’s push towards entrepreneurship and skills training means workers entering self-employment must also feel protected within the social security system.

“We as a government and as a country are now encouraging people to learn skills. We are encouraging people into entrepreneurial activity and to various forms of self-employment.

“If we are serious and we are thinking long-term, we must find a way for persons who would follow such paths as we are suggesting and encouraging. We must find a way for them to feel protected and to feel secure by National Social Services benefits.”

Portable benefits could also strengthen Barbados’ ability to compete for skilled workers in an increasingly competitive global labour market, the minister added.

“There is competition out there for talent, sir, and I believe that with portability benefits, it will create an environment that will allow both government, as well as private businesses, to attract high-quality independent workers in a very competitive market.”

McConney pointed to the current struggle of many workers to access benefits because they operate outside traditional employer-employee arrangements, including people with side hustles, freelance work, home-based businesses and other forms of informal employment.

She maintained that a portable benefits system would allow workers to carry benefits in their own name rather than having them tied to a single employer.

“What this portable benefits framework proposes to do is that it seeks to ensure that people can, in fact, carry their benefits in their own name rather than in the name of an employer and that it stays with them. 

“That those benefits don’t go through the stops and starts that happen now when people make transitions and that when transitions are made, they in fact have a way of ensuring that they work for them.”

The framework would also expand access to social security regardless of employment type, McConney said.

“They will have enhanced true social security where they can have that peace of mind and that there’s universal access; that no matter what type of job, how that job, your employment is categorised, you can have access to opportunities for better social security.”

Some workers remain trapped in jobs because their benefits are tied to their employer, said McConney.

“There are a number of people who find themselves locked in a job. They want to move on, they want to do something different, but because their social security benefits are tied, they feel like they’re in a job lock.”

“This resolution offers the opportunity for us to be able to overcome some of the challenges people face with regards to job lock.”

According to the minister for the public service, the proposal also supports broader labour reform and modernisation:

“This is also a part of modernising our labour laws and our labour policy. We cannot say that we are staying current when, in fact, we allow our policy and our laws to remain in a time that is not relevant to now.”

(LG)