Penalties for breaching
labour laws up for review
PHILIPSBURG--The penalties for employers who breach the island’s labour laws will be reviewed, workers attending last Saturday’s minimum wage forum were told.
Head of the Central Government Labour Department Kenneth Lopes said that while penalties were presently in place, they were not effective as deterrents. He could not give specific details about the penalties.
He said general inspection at businesses to ensure that the laws were being applied and the correct salaries were being paid would be intensified from this week on. The department will also start a campaign to inform the public via the local media about the general inspection. “We will let the public know that the inspections will take place for not only salaries, but also for other areas,” he said.
He said employers found not in compliance with the new minimum wage would be instructed to pay their employees the correct salaries. He said labour inspections were carried out regularly by the department.
Humphrey Alejandra, who represented Labour Minister Burney Elhage, acknowledged that the Central Government Labour Department was short-staffed.
“There is not enough staffing and there is now a creative solution that the two departments are working on,” he said adding that the intention was for the Island Government of St. Maarten to be granted responsibility for the Central Government Labour Office by July.
Also making presentations at the forum, organised by Labour Commissioner Louie Laveist, were Island Labour Department Head Rafael Boasman, Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development Foundation (SBDF) representative Ludwig Ouenniche, Windward Islands Federation of Labour (WIFOL) President Theophilus Thompson and former Lt. Governor Dennis Richardson, who was the moderator of the session.
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