Mass underpayment of workers uncovered –as Broomes sweeps Regent St businesses
Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes and officials of the Labour Department conducted inspections of
businesses along Regent Street on Tuesday (Delano Williams photo)
Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes and officials of the Labour Department conducted inspections of businesses along Regent Street on Tuesday (Delano Williams photo)

Minister in the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes and a team from her ministry have uncovered massive violations of occupational health and safety standards among other regulations, during several unannounced visits to stores along Regent Street, Georgetown yesterday morning.
And, since the reintroduction of inspections of businesses to ensure compliance, the Ministry of Social Protection, through its Department of Labour, has been able to recover more than $16M that businesses owed the State or their employees.
The money, which was either handed over to the ministry for payouts or remitted directly to the employees and other agencies, represented sums owed for overtime, meal allowances, NIS payments and short payments among other breaches.
The foregoing disclosures were made late yesterday by Minister Broomes following the completion of several unannounced visits to stores along Regent Street.
While the more than $16M was not recorded as payments garnered as a result of yesterday’s visit, the Guyana Chronicle was told that the monies were paid out over a three-month period after the Coalition Government took office, and clamped down on the rampant violation of workers’ rights.
There were cases where businesses opted to settle their arrears to employees at the level of the ministry, rather than going to the courts, while others called in their employees, some of whom had already left the job, and offered them the monies owed to them, the ministry’s team pointed out.
VISITS
Meanwhile, during the ministerial team’s unannounced visit yesterday, the number of violations that were uncovered were so numerous that it warranted the issue of stern warnings to employers, and the promise that they will be formally written to before the week is out. In addition, they were instructed to get the breaches fixed.

Failure to do so will see them being hauled before the courts by the Department of Labour for violations of the workers’ rights, working conditions and breaches of the labour laws.

UNDERPAYMENT

Among the breaches which the ministry’s team found yesterday were underpayment of workers; workers being paid a flat salary and told that they were being paid for overtime; not having a dedicated lunch room; inappropriate sanitary conditions; poor ventilation and seating accommodation; not having a dedicated staff room; no lunch-hour break; reduced lunch-hour breaks; no fire exits; hazardous conditions; and poor record keeping.
Needless to say, the discoveries did not sit well with Minister Broomes, who herself was seen perusing the books and records at some of the establishments.
Minister Broomes later told the media that the ministry was alarmed at the number of reported accidents on work-sites thus far for this year, some 300 in all.
As with her previous interactions with the media, she lamented the decision of the previous government to put a hold on the inspection of businesses.
The Guyana Chronicle was told that some businesses, without providing any evidence, claimed that they were being harassed by the labour officers, which reportedly prompted the banning of inspections.

NO SYSTEM
It was also uncovered yesterday that some business owners had no proper system in place by which they paid employees, and while the records showed one figure, workers told labour officers a different as to what they were actually receiving.
In one case, an employer who deliberately misled the team on many fronts during the inspection, refused to cooperate with them and directed them to a junior employee. At that very store, which is owned by an Indian national, the workers are not given annual leave, and have no lunch room.
They are also working under conditions where they are being given half an hour to have lunch, on condition that it is consumed in the store. And if customers need to be attended to, that worker has to juggle having lunch and seeing to those customers’ needs.
At another store, the minister and her team found that not only were employees being robbed and short-changed, but the State as well.
That store owner had several persons in its employ, but there were no deductions for NIS, no taxes were being paid to the government, and there was a total lack of compliance with all labour laws.
The entire “book” was thrown at that employer, and he was instructed to get everything in order by the time the ministry revisited the store.
Business places were found operating without a business registration, and when asked about their working conditions, workers were not willing to speak freely. This prompted the minister to liken the conditions under which they work to that of slavery, where the workers are afraid of their bosses and not willing to speak up for their own rights.
Among the stores visited were those between Avenue of the Republic and Wellington Street, and included clothing stores, cosmetics stores, and even record stores and photo studios.
During the visit yesterday, many persons who greeted the minister and team on the pavements, and were told of the nature of their business along Regent Street commended the initiative, with some even giving tips on which stores and businesses the officers need to also visit.
The ministry will be revisiting Regent Street soon, and those stores which were not touched will be under scrutiny. even as those already visited will be revisited to ensure that there is compliance. The team visited in excess of twenty stores yesterday.

 

By Leroy Smith

(Photos by Delano Williams)

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