Copies of Labour Legislations Obtained

Copies of the Employment Act, Minimum Wages Bill, and Health And Safety At Work Bill were received on Friday. Anyone wishing copies can obtain them from BECon's office. The entire package can be purchased at $25 for members, or $35 for non-members. The individual Act or Bills are $10 each for members, or $15 each for non-members.

Employment Act, 2001

The Employment Act came into effect on the 1st of January 2002. Except for the standard hours of work, all the terms and conditions of the Act are now in effect. The standard hours of work will become 44 hours per week on the 1st of February 2002, and reduce to 40 hours per week after the 1st of February 2003.

An article has been written entitled Provisions of the Employment Act, 2001 that outlines in layman's terms the provisions of the new Act. The article can be found on BECon's web site, www.bahamasemployers.org. This article is a slight rewrite of the article series The Nitty-Gritty of the Employment Act, 2001 that was serialized in this newsletter.

Standard Hours of Work Snafu?

There may be a flaw in the Employment Act regarding the standard hours of work for the month of January 2002. The apparent intent of Government is that the standard hours of work shall remain at 48 hours per week until the 1st of February 2002 when the standard is reduced to 44 hours per week, and then reduced further to 40 hours per week after the 1st of February 2003.

However, upon the coming into effect of the Employment Act on January 1st, the Fair Labour Standards Act, which provides for the 48-hour standard workweek was repealed. According to the new Employment Act, Clause 8 (1), the standard hours of work is 40 hours per week, with the proviso that the standard hours of work will be 44 hours from the 1st of February 2002 until the 1st of February 2003. This leaves a gap from the 1st of January through the 31st of January when the standard hours of work may conceivably be 40 hours per week.

Legal advice is being sought on this matter and if found to be a true flaw, an urgent request will be made to Government to make an amendment that would provide a 48-hour work week from the 1st through 31st of January 2002.

The Minimum Wages Bill

The Prime Minister has publicly announced that the expected enactment date of Minimum Wages Bill is the 1st of February. The Bill has passed the House and is scheduled to be debated by the Senate on Wednesday (9th January). The version passed by the House omits some of the concessions granted to employers that were negotiated with the Prime Minister.

The omission that causes the greatest concern is in the area that excludes certain classes of employees from the minimum wage. In particular, the provision that reads, "persons whose wages, tips, bonuses, commissions or other gratuities exceed the minimum wage" has been excluded. By not allowing this exemption, devastating consequences can occur in certain industries.

Anyone who has the ears of a Senator is urged to express concern about this omission prior to Wednesday's debate.

Another matter of concern is the inclusion of inspectors in this Bill who have the power to inspect matters relating to the Employment Act. During negotiations with Government, it was agreed that inspectors would be removed from the Employment Act, which was done. To provide for inspectors to inspect provisions of the Employment Act in a different piece of legislation completely negates the concession granted during the negotiation process.

The Health And Safety At Work Bill

Like the Minimum Wages Bill, the Health And Safety At Work Bill has apparently passed the House and is scheduled to be debated in the Senate on Wednesday.

Major changes have taken place in this Bill compared to the most recent draft version that was in our possession. Although the Bill does provide for the appointment of an Inspector, gone are all the powers associated with the Inspector.

The new version of the Bill basically provides a framework that would allow Regulations and Codes of Practice to be issued. Unfortunately these Regulations and Codes are not subject to approval of Parliament prior to their implementation. The Bill is quite wordy and hard to understand, and it is also quite subjective rather than objective, both of which will inevitably lead to protracted litigation.

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