Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 12/Jan 02:33

Wider protection for parents, retrenched workers

Amid rising lay-offs and closure of businesses, Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Development Minister Leroy Baptiste announced upcoming amendments which seek to widen the safety net for retrenched workers. He said revisions to the current Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act 32 1985 will expand who can access severance benefits, and considerations are being made to widen payout margins. Currently, workers employed for less than one year or up to three years are entitled to two weeks' pay per year of service, while employees of more than five years are entitled to three. Baptiste said the government is contemplating a revision of three weeks’ pay per year, for employees of one to five years, and a month's pay for employees of five years and over. He said the definition of redundancy, which currently only includes a surplus of labour, will also be widened to close the legislative loophole taken advantage of by some unscrupulous employers. "An employer can easily avoid obligations to workers by declaring insolvency, if operations are discontinued or if a company is shut down. “These activities would have rendered the workers without any recourse under the act. That definition will be changed to include insolvency, receivership and a number of other reasons why you might have some discontinuation of operations," Baptiste said. Notwithstanding the discontinuation, the worker will in fact have the right to severance benefits under the act, he added while speaking at a press conference on January 11. Asked his thoughts on the recently-announced winding-up of Newsday, Baptiste said, “My heart goes out to anyone who would have lost a job or is facing the breadline. The one thing we want to ensure is that if something like that happens, we offer maximum cushion that allows them transition into some other gainful employment. “Hence the act and the need to treat with that, there’s a level of urgency because the compensation is outdated, the procedure leaves a lot of people unrepresented. That is what we intend to treat with, to close that gap so people can get the maximum level of support if they are faced with joblessness.” He said the revisions are currently before the Attorney General and will be laid in Parliament soon. Amendments soon to Maternity Protection Act He also announced amendments to the Maternity Protection Act 1994 which will soon extend leave benefits to fathers and adoptive parents. Parental leave will also extend to fathers and guardians in the case of the mother’s death. He also announced a suspension of the 24-month limitation on leave benefits. “That section of the act is contrary to the general rules and intent and purpose of the act. A woman is penalised for becoming pregnant twice in one year. That, we disagree with.” He said new adjustments will make benefits applicable whenever pregnancy occurs. Nursing mothers can also look forward to paid breastfeeding breaks, Baptiste said revisions will provide statutory protections and allotted time for breast feeding or the extraction of breast milk. He said explicit provisions will prohibit termination, demotion, reduced pay or loss of opportunities due to pregnancy, maternity, paternity, parental leaves or breastfeeding breaks. He said these provisions will also guarantee that employees return to the same working conditions and agreements after leave. He also announced amendments to legal proceedings, which would place the burden of providing evidence on the employer if a worker brings a discrimination case to the court and introduce Industrial Court fines if employers are found in breach. This will also benefit contract workers whereby pregnancy will no longer qualify as a reason for someone not being re-employed. Pregnancy testing for job applicants or employees will also be prohibited. The post Wider protection for parents, retrenched workers appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.