Labour Minister calls for fairness as group of locals made redundant
He said employers should first give the employee adequate written notice or even holding a staff meeting to address the reasons why redundancy measures are being taken and to identify those employees that are at risk of becoming redundant.
Adding that the method of selecting employees for redundancy should be transparent, Honourable Wheatley said the group may be selected as a result of disciplinary record, length of service or another unbiased criteria.
'Unbiased criteria'
Mr Speaker, I express that the ‘unbiased criteria’ should not be that the employees are VIslanders/Belongers as such actions may render the redundancies to be considered unfair dismissals,” Hon Wheatley said in a statement delivered at the Eighth Sitting of the Third Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) of the Virgin Islands held at Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff's Bottom, Tortola, today, April 29, 2021.
“Additionally, it is unlawful to terminate the employment of a suitable qualified VIslander/Belonger in favour of an expatriate employee if there is no good reason. Employers must also ensure that the redundancy process is not made public until after the written termination notice is presented to all employees being made redundant,” Hon Wheatley added.
The Labour Minister explained that redundancy is an act where the task for which an employee was hired to perform has been altered or discontinued. Consequently, he said, redundancy can be used as a mechanism for dismissing an employee.
“However, Mr Speaker, for this action not to be deemed as unfair, qualifying circumstances must exist and the employer must show that the reason for the dismissal is truly due to unavoidable circumstances.”
Labour Commissioner not officially informed of redundancies
Hon Wheatley further advised that after issuing the written notice in adequate time and/or holding a general staff meeting and once the selection criteria has been established, that further consultation should be initiated with the group of employees before identifying the selections, adding that the process for redundancy is outlined in Sections 89 and 90 of the Code.
Sharing that the Labour Commissioner must be notified immediately or at least one month before the termination date; as stipulated in Section 99 of the Labour Code, 2010, particularly, in a situation where three or more employees are being made redundant and that the Labour Commissioner is to inform the Minister of the redundancy, Hon Wheatley disclosed that it is his understanding that, to date, the Commissioner has not been officially informed of any redundancies taking place at the organisation he was referring to. “Therefore, she has not informed me of same.”
'We will be monitoring closely'
“Mr Speaker, I want all organisations, especially the one that I referenced, for that organisation knows that I am referring to it, to take note that if it becomes necessary within six months following the termination process, for that organisation, to hire employees to perform the same duties from which the employees were removed, that the employer is obligated to give first preference and rehire the redundant employees. I expect, Mr Speaker, that if this becomes the case, it will be done as we will be monitoring closely what happens.”
Furthermore, Hon Wheatley said employees who have been in continuous employment for at least 12 months and being made redundant, are entitled to severance payments.
“As such, I encourage all employees, who have doubts and whose employers have not done so already, to contact the Department of Labour and Workforce Development to ensure that redundancy calculations are accurate to receive the correct severance entitlement payments.”
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36 Responses to “Labour Minister calls for fairness as group of locals made redundant”
Be thankful you have a job as its presently quite difficult worldwide
how many bvi people head to other caribbean islands looking work
It is always a war of position and money. Most natives can help themselves ,by becoming self sufficient in opening their own business. CREATE U OWN with the understanding of BOSS and VIRGIN Center to have all Data Entry done at a specific given office with native workers. But the ideas of doing your own is never seen to do your own thing, but rely on a nine to five and the go home , after which there is no after thoughts.
Natives have a lot of opportunity , but fail to use it. Why at this century there is no black boaters cruise club in the BVI. Most of these young youth have the ability to fix engines, to demonstrate strategic work flow, but just sit on the block waiting for what only God knows. Most of the females have excellent administrative skills, Why not have a huge administrative pool office. Just to type a certain letter from a certain company cost 450.00. There is no night life of what natives are about , am talking about clean fun. Story telling seems to be a thing of the past. But it can come alive again , only if the native know the process, then include your street food with it, tourist and expat alike will actually pay for it.
Pull all the ideas and make money out of it. There are lots of ideas in competition that can generate income. Stop going to these nine to five jobs that pays 6dollars per hour , when you can generate 60 times that amount in one night. No one can live on 6$ per hour, if you do the math, there is no way you can even save 6$ per month for ten years. However the government think you can when they themselves cannot, but they create a law to pay you less than you can survive on. Stop wasting time and be creative, creativity is a boss, use it.