Refusing to bow to pressure from employers lobbying for a delay in the start of reduced work weeks, Labour Minister Vincent Peet announced today that the standard work week will decrease from 44 hours to 40 hours effective February 1.
“The Government of The Bahamas is appealing to all employers to be just and fair in their dealings with their employees,” Minister Peet said.
The Employment Act, 2001, made provisions for the reduction of the work week from 48 hours to 44 hours last February. The Act provides for a further reduction of the work week from 44 hours to 40 hours effective February 1, 2003.
“The Government of The Bahamas stands firmly behind this Act and will honour its commitment to the citizens of The Bahamas,” Minister Peet told reporters.
The Bahamas Employers Confederation (BeCon), a group representing the interests of employers, had been pushing for the government to put off the start of reduced work weeks until the economy was showing more signs of growth.
BeCon President Brian Nutt told the Bahama Journal last week that any reduction in the work week would mean higher costs to employers and eventually higher costs to consumers.
Mr. Nutt today expressed disappointment that the reduction would come into effect on February 1, but he also indicated that employers were prepared to be cooperative and abide by the law.
“The Bahamas Employers Confederation completely understood the fact that the 40 hour work week was inevitable and that it would be coming into effect at some time,” Mr. Nutt said. “Although we would have liked to have seen that time pushed back, we are prepared to accept the 40 hour work week as of February.
“I think that [for] those persons who will impacted, there will be a negative impact because of it. Basically, most employers, the majority of employers, are not going to be affected by the reduction to 40 hours since they already operate at 40 hours or lower per week. So that portion of employers, however, who will affected, will be impacted significantly as a result of that reduction.” Mr. Nutt told the Journal in the earlier interview that the phase-in of the 40 hour work week would be the most costly aspect of the Act.
“It is something that would trickle down to consumers,” Mr. Nutt said. “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.”
Some employers had also said that it would mean that they would have to cut jobs or slash salaries. But Minister Peet said today that the government does not anticipate a reduction in salary for employees who are being paid daily, weekly, bi-monthly or monthly as a result of the reduction in the work week.
“The Office of the Attorney General, in consultation with my Ministry, has advised that, legally, employers cannot unilaterally convert the method of payment for those persons who are not hourly paid,” Minister Peet said. “To do so, would constitute a violation of their contract of employment. I am sure that employers realize that the humane treatment of employees is the foundation on which effective business are established.”
While the Employment Act is silent on the question of a lunch period, he said that custom and practice should be continued to be observed whereby a paid lunch period, ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour, is included in the daily hours of work.
“I call on all employers to continue this well-established and humane practice,” Minister Peet said. “The Government of The Bahamas is also appealing to employees to continue to improve their level of performance on the job and become more productive within the 40 hour work week.”
Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson and National Congress of Trade Unions President Pat Bain both appealed to the government last week to honour its commitment to the workers and bring the law into force.
Mr. Ferguson, who refused to even meet with the Minister to discuss a possible compromise last week, threatened that workers may resort to industrial action if the government gave in to the lobby of the employers.
Mr. Bain said in a statement to the press that, “the 40 hour work week is the right step in the right direction for the Bahamas and the NCTU applauds the government for it.”
The Bahama Journal
