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

The Employment Act, 2001 has been passed by the House of Assembly and is currently in the Senate. In our last two newsletters we listed some of the basic provisions of the Employment Act, 2001 and this is the third article in the series. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and the explained provisions are not fully described.

Grounds for Unfair Dismissal - Dismissal for the following reasons are grounds of unfair dismissal: dismissal relating to trade union membership; redundancy that is not applied equally; dismissal on ground of pregnancy; and, dismissal in connection with a lockout, strike, or other industrial action.

Order for Reinstatement or Re-engagement - In a case of unfair dismissal the Tribunal may make an order for reinstatement or re-engagement, and if the employee is not reinstated or re-engaged the employer shall be liable to pay the employee an amount of up to 26 weeks' pay in addition to any other compensation awarded.

Compensation for Unfair Dismissal - Where the Tribunal finds that a case of unfair dismissal has been committed, the amount of compensation shall consist of a basic award and a compensatory award. The total amount of compensation shall not exceed 18 months pay except for those who held a supervisory or managerial position where the total compensation shall not exceed 24 months pay.

Employment of a Child - A child means any person under the age of 14 years. A child shall not be employed in any undertaking except grocery packers, gift wrappers, peanut vendors, and newspaper vendors. It is not lawful to employ a child in night work.

Employment of a Young Person - A young person means any person who is 14 years of age and upwards, and under the age of 18 years. Young persons can be employed in night work provided the employment is in hotels, restaurants, food stores, general merchandise stores, and gas stations.

Prohibition of Employment During School Hours - A child or young person shall not be employed during the hours when the school that he or she attends is ordinarily in session. A young person may work outside of school hours as follows:- on a school day for not more than 3 hours; in a school week for not more than 24 hours; on a non-school day for not more than 8 hours; and, in a non-school week for not more than 40 hours.

Prohibition of Employment on Ships - A young person under the age of 16 shall not work on a ship unless only members of the same family are employed upon the ship or the ship operates only within the waters of The Bahamas.

Wages - Wages are to be paid in the currency of The Bahamas. The payment of wages shall be made on working days only and shall be made by cash, cheque or by deposit in the employee's bank account.

Pay Statements - At the time of making any payment of wages to an employee, the employer shall furnish in writing the period for which the payment of wages is made, the number of hours for which payment is made, the rate of wages, details of any deductions made from the wages and the actual sum being paid to the employee. This does not apply in the case of domestic employees.

Register of Wages - Employers shall keep a register of wage payments and accounts in respect of each employee for a period of three years. This does not apply in the case of domestic employees.

Restriction on Wage Deductions - If agreed by the employer and employee, repayment of loans made to an employee by an employer may be deducted from the employee's wages provided that the amount of deduction does not exceed one-fifth (20%) of the employee's wages.

Fingerprinting and Lie Detector Test - No employer shall require any person to furnish a set of his or her fingerprints or to take a lie detector test.

Change of Ownership of Business - Where a change occurs in the ownership of any business, and after such change of ownership an employee continues to be employed without interruption, the new owner is deemed to be the employer of that employee, and the employment shall be deemed to be continuous regardless of the change in ownership.

The Employment Act is 33 legal size pages in length, excluding the Arrangement of Sections pages and the Objects and Reasons pages. There are a number of provisions that were not mentioned in this series of articles, plus a number of exceptions and extenuating circumstances that would alter the basic outlines provided in this series of articles. All employers are urged to obtain and read a copy of this Act. A copy of the Employment Act, 2001 can be obtained from BECon's office at the price of $10.00.

Anyone interested in attending the BECon sponsored seminar or workshops on the Employment Act are invited to contact Mr. T. V. Arnett at BECon's office.

Previous Bulletin  ||  2001 Index  ||  Next Bulletin

Home  ||  About  ||  Newsletters  ||  Documents  ||  Links  ||  Contact  ||  Site Map