Labour Ministry recovers $69M on behalf of employees

The Ministry of Labour has recovered some $69 million on behalf of employees about various employment matters in 2023.

Last year, the Ministry’s Department of Labour received 912 complaints from employees concerning issues including termination benefits, annual leave, unlawful deductions from salaries, and overtime payments.

Of that total, the ministry has resolved some 85 % of these complaints received from employees.

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton disclosed this at the ministry’s year-end review, on Tuesday.

A significant proportion of the complaints received by the ministry are from employees in the private security industry. 

However, the ministry has been able to lower the percentage of complaints from this sector through seminars and other interactions from 27 per cent to 25 per cent of all complaints.

To achieve decent employment and working conditions, the labour department executed 2,700 workplace inspections in all the regions to ensure businesses and companies comply with the legal criteria governing working conditions.  

The labour department is tasked with maintaining and improving industrial relations in the country. This is accomplished by several focused goals which include maintaining a stable industrial relations climate through conciliation, mediation and advisory services, monitoring and enforcing labour laws, providing information, education and advocacy, trade union recognition and development, and elimination of child labour,