Employers “unfair” for paying minimum wage – Pickering
He was at the time speaking at the third labour meeting that was held last evening, February 8, 2012 at the Catholic Community Centre on Virgin Gorda.
One resident bemoaned that there were a lot of injustices going on in many of the hotels on the island, and pointed to the fact that the average person’s wage is too low.
She highlighted that with the hike in food items, some residents are struggling to survive because they have children to feed, rent to pay, utilities to pay, among others.
Sympathetic to their plight, Hon. Pickering admitted that the minimum wage is a burning issue to him and the Labour Department.
“The Labour Code gives the Minister the authority to set up committees of various sizes that he or she feels fit that will enhance the work of the Code. One of such committees that could be set up is a committee to review the minimum wage. And I know the former Minister [Omar Hodge] had already started to put that, in fact he had already started to put a team in place to start looking at the minimum wage...because we start to recognise that it is an issue that needs to be looked at. In the not too distant future it is something that our Government will be looking into and to see how best we can address that. For any employer right now who pays somebody minimum wage is really being a little unfair, you know in today’s context. But we will find a way to deal with this as time unfolds,” the Labour Minister assured residents, who turned out in their numbers.
Meanwhile, another resident stated that housekeepers and waiting staff in the hotel industry should not receive minimum wages, because when compared to other staff in the hotel industry – others are paid twice as much for half the work.
“In the hotel industry they are saying the gratuity will make it up. Is that legal?” the resident asked.
However, Hon. Pickering pointed out that he cannot slam employers since the potential employee is aware of the package before starting the job. But a resident rebutted that the terms and conditions set out by the employer sometimes shift and added, “when you get on the job they give you more to do than what the terms and conditions say and then still pay you $4 a hour.”
If that is true, Hon. Pickering pointed out, the employee can make a complaint to the Labour Department because that is slavery.
“That’s illegal, nobody is forced to work. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) of which the BVI is a signatory through the UK Government outlaw slavery and there are clear rules that ILO sets down and the way employees are treated...that is separate and apart from the local laws and slavery in any form is just illegal. In today’s world nobody must be forced to work under conditions they have not agreed to work under,” the Minister charged.
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