THE Labour Ministry will be considering legal action against several security companies which continue to go weeks and months without paying their employees.
Speaking on the issue in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton, said the matter continues to persist notwithstanding many of the companies being spoken to about the situation.
“At the level of labour we will have to warn them that we will use the law or whatever is available via punitive measures; we will have to go there if this is not changing,” the minister declared.
The ministry has been receiving reports countrywide on late payments by security firms.
“We have had several complaints of the sort coming out of the security company sector. In all the regions the issue exits. I know labour officers are paying attention on the matter in the fields. I have already spoken to some security companies on the matter,” the minister related last Thursday.
His comments came even as reports have surfaced that several Region Four security guards attached to Courtney Benn Security Service have not been paid for the past five weeks. Minister Hamilton said he has heard about the matter and is looking into it.
Hamilton recently held discussions with Sentinel Security Inc., which provides security services at public buildings on West Bank Demerara, which for years have been having ongoing issues with paying their employees late.
The companies continue to blame the late payment on payments made on their government contracts. On Thursday, Minister Hamilton reiterated his stance that the excuses by the security companies of late payments on their government contracts is not a justification.
“In conversations they indicate that it is because the government don’t pay them on time. My position on the matter is that has nothing to do with the workers being paid. The company must make the necessary arrangement that the workers are paid on time; these are two separate issues. Those who I have spoken to, that is what I am holding them to,” Hamilton conveyed.
Minister Hamilton will be reaching out to the Guyana Association of Private Security Organisations (GAPSO) to see what role the organisation can play in holding its members accountable with regards to the situation.
“One of the things I will attempt to do is call in the umbrella security organisation, [GAPSO]. I don’t think all the companies are under that, but my first attempt will be to talk to them, and then individually also talk to those who are not members of the organisation,” Minister Hamilton said.
Johnny Mortley, Chief Security Consultant for the Guyana Oil Company Limited (GuyOil), is president of GAPSO.
