Nearly 300 companies educated on Guyana’s labour laws

Hundreds of companies in Guyana are now informed about the country’s labour laws and the standards for workplace health, safety, and employee morale.

In an effort to foster a healthy and safe labour force, the Ministry of Labour hosted one of its largest sensitisation seminars on Tuesday.

Nearly 300 private and public sector companies attended the informative session held at the Arthur Ching Conference Centre.

During the session, representatives from both established and up-and-coming businesses were able to garner crucial knowledge on various aspects of Guyana’s labour law constituents.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke to a few participants and captured their appreciation for the enlightening lesson.

Branch Manager of the recently launched business “Boba Fete” Nathaniel Powers shared how this initiative will greatly impact his capabilities as a manager.

“It (the seminar) not only gives us an idea of the importance of…a healthy work environment but it also gives us an understanding of why it’s important to not only protect your company but also to protect one of your main assets which is your employees,” he said.

One of his subordinates, Shakira Hercules found herself gaining knowledge about her rights as an employee.

Elaborating on her experience, she said, “Stuff that you didn’t know you can gain more knowledge about and you can improve in your working environment…to be very honest, I knew a little and now today I’m here I learnt so much.”

Another participant Aldercy Peters shared her thoughts on how this initiative will benefit a wide range of workers in various positions across multiple sectors.

She said, “I think this is a wonderful initiative that the Ministry of Labour has put forward. It is educating not only HR professionals but your admin managers. You [also] have your CEOs who are [now] able to understand better what are your labour laws, what the labour laws are made out of, how they can go about it [and] how it can advise them so that they’re always working within the law and doing right not only by the employer [or] the business, but also the employee.”

Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton said the seminar is one of the ministry’s many undertakings to provide free assistance to workers, keep the public informed and prioritise safety in Guyana’s dynamic job labour landscape.

“These exercises are useful to engage public sector and private sector so that people can have a clear understanding as to what the labour laws are and what they’re not because a lot of people are misinformed. They are misinformed in a lot of instances by people who they trust,” the minister told DPI.

Over the years, the Ministry of Labour has implemented numerous initiatives to support employees, including training opportunities, a labour app to receive complaints and other sensitisation programmes.