General manager of the Four Seasons Resort, Antoine Chahwan said Monday that the resort recognised that it was at fault regarding certain polices and pledged to correct those faults in the interest of industrial harmony.
He was responding to acting Minister of Labour, Shane Gibson who said certain regulations employed by the four-star resort were in breach of the Employment Act, 2001. Mr Gibson was referring to the six-month probationary period that the resort had given certain employees, contrary to the maximum three-month period stipulated in law.
An investigative team from the Ministry of Labour, dispatched to the resort last week, discovered that infraction and also reportedly determined that some employees had been fired before the expiration of their three-month probationary period. The team further revealed that management had reportedly refused to issue copies of employment contracts signed by employees.
Mr Chahwan, in an interview with The Guardian said the resort worked very closely with the local labour ministry’s office in Exuma and, “Four Seasons will always adhere to the governing laws of the country in which we operate. We respect the acting minister’s comments and we will continue to work with the Ministry of Labour in the best interest of our employees.”
He continued, “We are not interested in breaking the law. We are a big, reputable company. He (Minister Gibson) pointed this (infractions) out to us and we will fix it, no ifs ands or buts about it.”
Asked why the company needed 30 days to resolve the reported industrial tension, Mr Chahwan replied, “Not that I need 30 days to fix it, but there are certain items that need time to be dealt with. The things that I can address right away, I will address.”
He explained that he requested the 30-day period from the Ministry of Labour to set up an action plan, adding, “Because I can’t turn around tomorrow and fix everything. I need to investigate it. I need to find out exactly what is going on and make sure that I can put a system in place that would remedy the issue for the long term.”
That 30-day period began at the time of the resort’s first meeting with the labour ministry, over a week ago.
The invasion of privacy was also a sore point for some workers living in the resort’s dormitories. On that point, the general manager said he was shocked to hear of such practises and added that middle managers, supervisors and upper management personnel all abide by rules of mutual respect and fair play.
He advised employees that if they encountered problems on the job to contact the Human Resource Department right away as the company had an open door policy. He stressed that the company would investigate the problem thoroughly and if it found conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, would deal with the matter appropriately.
“Because we treat others the way that we want to be treated. That is our motto. If an employee does have an issue for whatever reason, it could be a perception; it could be anything, please come and talk to us about it. But none have come forward until just now,” he said.
He then pointed out that everybody was aware of Four Seasons’ equal opportunity employer record worldwide and explained that it would be unwise for the company to attempt to wilfully tarnish that record in The Bahamas.
Focussing on the charge by some employees that Bahamians were not hired in middle management positions, the general manager said Four Seasons had chosen to operate a resort in The Bahamas with the expectation of hiring the local staff in both hourly and key management positions. He added that any other allegations were outrageous and completely unfounded.
Industrial tensions had been brewing at the 8-month old resort soon after it opened on Dec. 15.
Some employees, as far back as January, including a bartender told The Guardian that they were being treated unfairly, particularly with respect to overtime pay.
The Exuma resort has 487 employees, nearly half of which are from New Providence, Grand Bahama and other Bahamian islands.
Mindell Small, The Nassau Guardian
