Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr Dale Bisnauth says that on a weekly basis, his ministry receives numerous complaints from employees.
The complaints which the ministry investigates range from arbitrary termination of employment, cut-backs in wages and salaries and the non-submission of National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions, even though deductions have been made, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
Minister Bisnauth was at the time giving a brief address on Thursday to participants at a one-day seminar at the Teaching Service Commission building on Brickdam. Participants comprised mainly workers in the bakery industry and shops.
The minister stressed that the non-submission of NIS contributions by employers impacted tremendously on persons who had reached the age of retirement. He noted too that this kind of unscrupulous behaviour involved semi-skilled employees, GINA said.
However, Bisnauth complimented those employers who provided conditions that are healthy, wholesome and conducive to their employees. He called on all employers to ensure that such conditions prevailed countrywide, regardless of the type of establishment.
The labour minister also charged employers and employees to ensure that cordial relationships existed at their place of work.
According to GINA, the seminar aimed at ensuring that participants were aware of their rights and obligations in relation to the labour laws and their enforcement, and promoting interaction between the labour department and employers’ representatives.
In his remarks, Bisnauth said that because of the looming global economic village confronting the industrialised world, employees and employers would have to seek new ways of relating to one another. He pointed out that some issues, such as industrial action, had negative effects on production. “We have got to find new ways of relating so that we do not have wastages and drop-outs from the establishment and prolonged disturbances among workers because all these things have a very serious effect on our production,” GINA quoted the minister as saying.
Speaking on the role of his ministry, Bisnauth told the participants that over the past three years important labour laws had been enforced and it was the responsibility of the ministry to ensure that these acts were observed and recognised by employees and their employers.