President of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, Yvonne Hall.
WHILE the Employment Rights Act has transformed employment relationships and the approach to employment relations in Barbados, in the absence of regulations and with only six judgements in the first five years of operation, there remain areas of ambiguity.
This is the view of President of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), Yvonne Hall, who was delivering remarks at a recent seminar held under the theme “Lessons from the Tribunal”, where close to 200 employers and their representatives heard directly from Chairman of the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT), retired Justice Christopher Blackman and other members of his team.
Speaking at the Cave Hill School of Business earlier this week, Hall told the large gathering, “As fair and reasonable employers, we welcome the standardisation afforded by some areas of the Act, for example, the Statement of Employment Particulars, which support better administration and provide clarity and protections to employees.
“On the other hand, the practical reality of day-to-day application of the Act, particularly in relation to administration and adjudication of disciplinary matters, that it is onerous, time-consuming, and requires employers to dedicate a disproportionate amount of time to those employees who are sometimes the least productive.”
Hall also made the point that there is a glaring absence of any differentiators between large and small enterprises, which may be one of the most problematic omissions of the legislation.
“As the BEC represents a significant number of small businesses, this has been an issue of great concern which we will continue to pursue with vigour.
“The rulings from the Tribunal may seem to suggest that we – HR professionals, employers and business owners – need to improve our understanding and application of the Act, and our handling of disciplinary matters and terminations as to date, only two of the judgments rendered have been in favour of the employer,” she said.
This, she said, was the rationale behind engaging members of the Tribunal, to help the BEC to navigate this piece of legislation.
“Because the reality is that whilst we at the BEC are still advocating for changes to be made to the Employment Rights Act, until such time as we have been able to bring about the necessary changes, we must encourage and facilitate understanding of, and compliance with the Act in its current iteration,” she said.