Over the past five months, the Labour Department of the Ministry of Social Protection has closed some 416 cases brought against employers and over $18 million has been paid to aggrieved workers, according to Junior Minister Simona Broomes.
“This is not anything where we are just harassing anybody. The approach here is that we have the law and we have to stand by it. I am very supportive of staff calling in employers and once they come in we sit down, we go through, they comply, they pay and that is how we have been able to have all these payments,” Broomes told Stabroek News in a recent interview.
Broomes said when she took over the department she found a backlog of cases and they have been making headway in resolving them.
She related the case of a woman whose husband died in the interior and she was not given compensation or told the circumstances of the man’s death. The woman received a message that her husband had died and he was brought out of the interior wrapped in a hammock and nobody could say how he really died. After the department’s intervention, the woman was paid the salary owed to her husband, given $1 million in compensation and the answers she craved. It was also found that the employer did not report the fatality, for which he has since been charged.
“We have managed to negotiate with even big companies, who have paid their workers,” she said, while noting that the department’s first approach is to sit down with employers and negotiate for payments to workers rather than an immediate move to the courts, which could be a frustrating process.
“So right now, I think many workers are happy. We are closing a lot of files and workers are more satisfied even though we might not be able to please every worker,” she added, while pointing out that she is firm but also wants to be humane.
Broomes also cited the case of a large logging company, where it was found that the workers were being paid a few dollars below the minimum wage since 2013. The company has since corrected the underpayment and paid over the money due to the workers for the past three years.
At the same company, the ministry found that an arbitrary policy was introduced under which monies from workers’ salaries were deducted for meals.
“Monies were being deducted from the salaries even when they were sick and workers said they did not eat the meals and that, we did indicate to the company, has to be corrected as there was no document or so to reflect this, it was just imposed on the workers that this was so,” Broomes said.
She added that after labour officers sat down with company officials, it was agreed that the workers will paid the monies that were deducted as they had not agreed to the policy. The monies to be repaid amounted to over $1.8 million.
“…With this particular company, they have several areas in which we found issues, such as under occupational health and safety, but they have been complying, we have been having meetings and talks, which have been very fruitful,” Broomes added.
Further, she said the company has also sought help to ensure it complies with the laws and the department’s officers are assisting it.
“So it is not about going out there and we have this inspection… I think it is fair to make it known that the company did comply and [began] making corrections in every area that we have pointed out to them,” she noted.
“We are making some headway with compliance but if we don’t visit and we don’t go out there, we will not know. Since I am here at this ministry it is not only the minister going out to do inspections but inspections are ongoing. Everyd-ay inspections are conducted and not only in George-town but in other regions,” she further said.
Broomes pointed out that following the Regent Street inspection where she and senior officials of the department paid surprise visits to various businesses, a number of business owners have visited the department. She said two businesspersons asked for help to comply with the laws.
“We had the senior officers sit down with them and give them the forms and show them how to do their books,” she added.
Workers must do the right thing
At the same time, Broomes is appealing to workers to comply with the conditions of their employment as there have been a few cases where persons would have claimed they were wrongfully dismissed but upon investigation the employers were found to be within their rights.
“So at the same time you want to be fair, you want to encourage the workers also that when you are at work do the right thing. You ought to be there on time…, you can’t say I have my children, I am a single-parent… single-parent persons working throughout the world. You have to be there on time, they have their code of conduct, a certain amount of discipline and you must be able to adhere,” she said.
Broomes added that workers cannot do what they want, then run to the Labour Department for help because its function is not to dictate to businesses how to conduct their operations once they comply with the requisite labour laws.
“The role of this department is to bring the balance between employer and employee, so you have both sides of the coin. I have been arguing in support of employers in some instances. They have challenges sometimes more than the employees and once they are in their rights I would support them,” she said.