BECon Annual General Meeting

At the Annual General Meeting of Bahamas Employers Confederation held on the 27th of September 2001 the draft Strategic Plan prepared as a result of the visit in July by Brent Wilton of the International Organisation Of Employers (IEO) and Luesette Howell from the Employers desk of the regional office of the International Labour Organization (ILO) was adopted as the Strategic Plan of BECon.

The members also approved the incorporation of Bahamas Employers Confederation as a non-profit company, and until the time of its incorporation, approved the operation of BECon under the terms and conditions outlined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association that have been prepared for its incorporation.

The newly appointed Officers of BECon are Brian Nutt - President, Felix Stubbs - Vice-President, and T. V. Arnett - Secretary. The newly appointed Directors of BECon are Reginald Lobosky, Godfrey Eneas, Randolph Minnis, Frank Comito, Michelle Patterson, T. V. Arnett, Felix Stubbs, and Brian Nutt.

BECon/ILO Strategic Planning Workshop Follow-up

On the 1st of October Luesette Howell facilitated a workshop for the newly appointed Directors of BECon on the role, responsibilities and operating environment of a national employers organization. The purpose of this workshop was to provide focus to the Directors in implementing and following through key actions as determined in the strategic plan.

The Nitty-Gritty of the Employment Act, 2001 - Part 1

The Employment Act, 2001 has been passed by the House of Assembly and is currently in the Senate. Prior to the terrorist attack on September 11th in the U.S.A., it was intended that this Bill would be enacted on the 31st of October 2001. Although we are not sure of the timetable that Government is currently considering for this Bill, it is almost a sure thing that it will become the law of the land regarding employment.

Here are some of the basic provisions of the Employment Act, 2001. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and the explained provisions are not fully described.

Saving of More Favourable Terms of Employment - Where any provision of this Act provides greater rights or better benefits than those currently given to employees, those rights or benefits are to be brought up to the level provided for in this Act, and where greater rights or better benefits are currently provided, they shall not be reduced.

Conditions of Employment - Employees shall be informed of the name of the employer, the place of employment, the nature of employment, the number of hours of daily work, the time work is to commence and the time work is to terminate, the rate of wages and other benefits, and the manner and period of payment of wages and other benefits among other things. The employee shall provide his name and where practicable his place of origin and any other particulars necessary for his identification.

Non-discrimination and Equal Pay for Equal Work - Employers shall not discriminate against employees, or applicants for employment, on the basis of race, creed, sex, marital status, political opinion, age or HIV/Aids.

Standard Hours - The standard hours of work shall be 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week, however, there is a proviso that the standard hours of work will be 44 hours per week for the period October 31st, 2001 to October 31st, 2002. Any time worked over the standard hours is subject to overtime pay. When the nature of the employment is such that hours are required to be irregular, the standard hours may be calculated as an average over a period not exceeding four weeks. Certain sectors may exceed the standard hours in a day up to a maximum of 12 hours at a regular rate of pay, however the standard hours for the week shall still apply.

Day Off - Each employee shall be allowed 48 hours off each week with at least 24 of those hours being consecutive. The consecutive 24 hours is referred to as the day off. (For convenience, the other 24 hours will be referred to as "hours of rest".)

Overtime Pay - Whenever an employee works on a Public Holiday or his day off, he shall be paid at twice his regular rate of pay, (double time). Whenever an employee works beyond the standard hours in a day, or works any portion of his hours of rest, he shall be paid at one and one-half times his regular rate of pay (time and one-half).

Part II of this article will be in the next issue of the News Bulletin.

Later this month BECon will be offering a four-hour seminar on the Employment Act for Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers and General Managers. There will also be a two-day workshop, four hours each day, for Human Resource Managers, Middle Managers, and Senior Supervisors and another two-day workshop for Managers, Supervisors and Foremen. If you are interested in the seminar or either of the workshops, please contact T.V. Arnett at BECon's office.

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