THE Department of Labour, headed by Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Keith Scott, is on a campaign to ensure strict compliance with laws relating to industrial relations and occupational safety and health.

In 2017 there were 458 complaints of labour violations placed before the court and over 300 of those cases were prosecuted and closed. That is representative of a 65% closure of cases for that year; a 180% increase in prosecutions, when compared to 2015; and over 19M dollars were recovered.

In a release, the department said it continues to receive reports of non-compliance and is currently engaging Integrated Security Services for allegedly paying salaries below the national minimum wage and in other cases withholding salaries completely. Minster Scott, Chief Labour Officer Mr Charles Ogle and Assistant Chief Labour Officer, Mrs Karen VanSluytman-Corbin recently travelled to New Amsterdam, where they conducted a strategic inspection accompanied by labour officers in that region. The team also held short meetings with regional officials. The minister had previously stated that he is prepared to go to any part of the country to correct injustices and defend the rights of workers.

The release stated that while meeting with the minister, the security company indicated that after recently acquiring a contract that was lost by another security service, they are facing administrative difficulties that resulted in several complications. They were urged to fix those as soon as possible, while the minister ordered immediate compliance with the minimum wage. They were also ordered to submit their time and wage sheets to the department for review.

Mr Neville Nicholes, Senior Labour, Occupational Safety and Health Officer in charge of Regions Five and Six, said that the Labour Department has already begun in-house training with senior supervisors of the security service so that they would be au fait with the regulations and what is required. This is in addition to several other training programmes planned for both regions.

According to the Labour Department, during a meeting with employees of the security company, they complained about being unable to meet their living expenses, being unable to support their families and having to borrow money just to get by. Some employees mentioned that based on varying amounts of money they would receive, they do not know what their correct salaries were. They went on to say that the company should not be Integrated Security, but should be renamed “Integrated Science” for the technicalities involved in computing their salaries.

Ms Vanessa Hope, who resides in the vicinity of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, said she was retained by the guard service after it acquired the security contract of her previous employer. She said in December the company paid her just over $16,000 while she was given $25,000) for January. She said based on her calculation of the hours she had worked, her salary should be $50,400. The team also conducted inspections across several New Amsterdam businesses where several infractions were found. Those infractions include: bad lighting, deplorable washroom facilities, the absence of first aid kits, fire extinguishers, time books and cases of employees not receiving pay slips.