The Bahamas Employers Confederation, an internationally recognized group representing the interests of employers, is putting fire under the government to delay the start of reduced work weeks set to come into effect on February 1.
It is an issue that is forcing the government to take sides, but Labour Minister Vincent Peet said Sunday he is working with both employers and employees to create a “win-win” situation.
In accordance with the Employment Act, 2001, the standard hours of work will be reduced from 44 hours per week to 40 hours per week. The first reduction from 48 hours to 44 hours was made last year.
Minister Peet was scheduled to meet with union leaders on the matter today.
Members of the Bahamas Employers Confederation, meanwhile, continued their appeal to the government to delay reduced work weeks until the sluggish economy is able to absorb the lost hours.
Confederation President Brian Nutt said Sunday that February 1 could mean more than just the start of the reduced hours. He said it could also signal the start of huge losses in profits, a huge loss of productivity and widespread price increases.
Mr. Nutt estimates that employers would suffer an 8.3 percent loss in productivity, if the law comes into effect. With economic activity slowed, he said employers cannot afford any reduction in productivity.
“The overall economy should be the guide to the effective date of the reduced hours, not an arbitrary date set in stone,” he said. “It is our opinion that economic recovery has not progressed to the point where the implementation of the 40 hour work week is fiscally prudent.”
He said that last year, employers were requested to submit to the Ministry of Labour and Immigration by June 17, concerns and recommendations regarding the labour legislation.
“Concern was expressed over the phase-in of the 40 hour work week in February 2003 as being the most costly aspect of the Act that it faced by those employers affected by the reduced standard hours of work,” Mr. Nutt said.
He said that while employers would have to pay overtime after an employee fulfils the standard work week, the cost of doing business continues to increase.
It’s a situation that some employers feel just isn’t fair, especially not now.
The employers make another argument, that is, employees are consumers too and consumers would ultimately have to bare the brunt of the reduced hours that would probably mean higher prices for goods and services, Mr. Nutt said.
“It is something that would trickle down to consumers,” he said. “In other words, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Anything that happens to increase the cost of doing business, somewhere along the line, it’s going to be passed to the consumer and I think we can look back at last year when the labour legislation was enacted and see that there was widespread price increases.”
Minister Peet said that while this argument comes into play, there are other factors that the government must assess before making a final determination.
Minister Peet said the government is reviewing fully all labour laws passed under the Ingraham Administration. He said requests for postponement of the reduced work weeks have been flooding the Department of Labour.
The government will make a decision “sometime this week”, he said. With February 1, a little over two weeks ago, time is running out for employers jockeying for the delay. Minister Peet said while the government is looking at the arguments for and against the postponement, employers should prepare themselves for the coming into force of the controversial labour law.
He said the economy is clearly a very important factor to take into consideration as the government considers whether to grant the delay.
“But equally as important would be the benefit to the workers and so the trade union leaders…will have their input and we expect to be able to give a release shortly,” said Minister Peet, who would not say how strong he thought the argument for postponement was.
“I wouldn’t want to prejudice the decision in any way,” he told the Bahama Journal. “We are factoring in what [the employers’] concerns are and are trying to balance the position.”
There is a delicate balance that Minister Peet would have to strike.
His government has to make a decision that would appease employers. But it also wants to be seen as doing what is in the best interest of employees as well.
“The workers clearly will have fewer hours to work,” he said. “But at the same time, they would be expected to be more productive…The employers will say that because of the reduced hours it will cause more pressures on them, that they will be paying more, in their view, for less. But I believe the intention is to try to improve the efficiency of the operation and also to ensure that workers who have a vested interest in their jobs will improve their productivity so that they will not even require employers to consider any downsizing. The idea is for there to be no loss of jobs.”
But some employers have said that the reduced work weeks could force them to lay off some staffers.
Trade union leaders don’t buy this argument.
Leader of the Trade Union Congress Obie Ferguson agreed with Minister Peet saying that the law encourages workers to increase productivity.
Mr. Ferguson said Monday that there is no justification for employers wanting to put off the start date for reduced work weeks.
“The employers seem to have missed the boat in this particular instance,” he said. “They should have come to the unions. The unions provide the labour and the employers provide the capital.”
Mr. Ferguson said that employers should be negotiating with trade unions and not the government to come to a compromise.
He said there are huge benefits that the new law brings that employees may not be prepared to give up at this time.
“Obviously, the benefit would be that they would have more time with their families which is very critical in our development and it simply means that workers will have an additional half an hour off from work to be able to devote time to develop and to spend time with their families which in our view is very critical for any wholesome society,” Mr. Ferguson said.
The Bahama Journal
