Employers beware!
The Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations has you on its radar if you are engaging in the practice of treating legitimate employees as though they are “contract” or “casual” workers.
Minister of Labour, the Honourable Colin Jordan, told the House of Assembly today that Government was very aware of the growing practice of what he described as job “casualisation”. He explained that they had been receiving increasing reports of workers being given set times to start and end work, told when to take lunch, required to wear company uniform, but still not being treated as employees.
In fact, he said, Government had already “suspected” that for some employers “casualisation” would be a reaction to the implementation of new minimum wage legislation.
He warned that the various arms of his ministry would step up inspections as one plank of its strategy to ensure the practice does not become endemic.
Minister Jordan was supported by Acting Chief Labour Officer, Claudette Hope-Greenidge, who noted that since last year the Labour Department had been paying particular attention to the development and had already started to step up its awareness programmes for both employees and employers.