Enforcement key to success of new bills

Mario Ebanks, Director Labour and Pensions

(CNS): The struggle government has enforcing workplace legislation has been one of the considerations in the development of the new and amended labour and pension bills, which are now going through public consultation. The bills are expected to come before parliament later this year, but once the drafts have been finalized and passed, it will be the level of compliance by employers and enforcement by the authorities which will measure the success of these laws.

During a press briefing Monday to launch the public discussion on the new pensions law amendments, Employment Minister Tara Rivers said that the Department of Labour and Pensions is not waiting for all of this new legislation to be passed before it takes action to address the concerns regarding enforcement and compliance that have been around for some time.

Having faced significant criticism over the years because of the difficulties the department has had pursuing delinquent employers, Mario Ebanks, the director of the department, said a host of “initiatives and innovations” are now being pursued and fine-tuned to tackle some of those problems. Ebanks spoke about enhanced communications and the sharing of information between the Labour Office, the Department of Commerce and Investment, the Health Insurance Commission and the Department of Immigration about non-compliant clients.

He said that the department has already introduced a letter of good standing regarding compliance with pension payments, which all businesses will need from this summer onwards when the new Trade and Business Licence Law is implemented in order to renew their licences.

Although sources close to the board confirmed to CNS this week that the National Pensions Board has not met since February because of a failure to reach a quorum at scheduled meetings, the director said his department was working with the NPB and a financial analysts to introduce a standardized investment performance reporting regime by pension plans.

Ebanks said this would assist employees to understand and compare the performance of their plans with others. He also said that the department was examining the annual drawdown amounts that pensions release in a year, as well as improved supervision of plans and their administrators, with on-site inspections and analysis of statements. Ebanks said that his department has also been reaching out to stakeholders to improve awareness and education about pensions and up-skill staff in the labour and pensions unit.

In the battle to enforce the law as well as the proposed increase in fines and the new administrative fines that are coming with the law, Ebanks said the Labour Office was seeking to improve its relationship with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Despite reports that as many as 600 employers could be delinquent when it comes to paying in everything they owe for employees pension contributions on a monthly basis, the number of bosses that have actually been prosecuted is very small. A handful of cases are continuing through the courts but few sanctions have been handed down to employers even where bosses have pleaded guilty for failing to pay.

The owners of Champion House pleaded guilty some five years ago in connection with pension delinquency that dates back to 1999. While the case has been going through the courts since 2008, the arrears remain. Around a half dozen other cases continue to crawl through the courts with almost little or no progress, with some employers failing to appear at all.

The ministry is hoping, however, that the new legislative regime covering both labour and pensions will finally enable officials to better enforce the law and improve compliance.

National Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2015 Consultation Draft June 2015

Pensions (Amendment) Bill 2015 – Summary Notes- 29 June 2015

Public discussion on the two bills will now continue until the end of August and public meeting dates are expected to be released shortly.

The draft labour bill is available on the education ministry’s website here, along with a summary discussion document and information on how to submit comments.

The public is urged to contribute to the open discussion, given the extensive impact both pieces of legislation will have on people in the community.

Launch of Public Consultation for Labour Relations Bill , 24 June 2015

Launch of Public Consultation for Pensions Bill, 29 June 2015