Employment ministry adds month for discussion on laws

| 01/09/2015 | 19 Comments
Cayman News Service

Labour Minister Tara Rivers and Director of Labour and Pensions Mario Ebanks at Labour Law meeting in West Bay

(CNS): The public consultation period on the draft labour and pension bills has been extended by another month, official said Monday. The window of opportunity for individuals, businesses or organizations to submit comment on the two major pieces of legislation was due to end today but the employment ministry said it was extending the timeframe until the end of September due to the importance of these bills and as a result of requests for more time.

The Labour Relations Bill, 2015 and the National Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2015 were released into the public domain in June and since then the ministry has held a number of meetings with stakeholders and the wider public to explain the new proposed laws.

Both bills are complex and propose a number of changes, from increasing the retirement age to 65 to contracts for all employees including domestics but the employment minister has said the legislation will protect the vulnerable and introduce greater compliance.

Both bills can be accessed on the ministry’s website here.

The final date for submissions will be the 30 September and feedback can be provided via email to lpl@gov.ky.

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Category: Laws, Politics

Comments (19)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Here we go again … a waste of time with millions spent on committees and meetings. The issues are not going to be resolved in 1 month. So why not put through the items not legally being debated (maternity and paternity leave) so the most people benefit from it and leave the legal battles to take years.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Well they started at the top and he is gone now lets work are way down! Who is in charge now anyway?

  3. Anonymous says:

    What is baffling and comical to a layman is that the law has been drafted partly by Tars or at least her vision of it but it has so many contradictions and unclear directivies but gives almost ultimate authority to the Labour Office that has trouble returning a phone call promptly and more seriously lacks collective minds that bear critical thinking skills. This is a blantant attempt to appear as if this law is for the greater good of an oppressed work force but when in fact it is a token to many constituents to perhaps cast their vote in the next election to her favor. However the obvious economic impacts on its face that this new law will have on these Islands demonstrates the level of incompetence at the wheel. Even for the people that which this law is aimed at providing a hand out to, they will not benefit as the Employers will be out of businees or have fewer staff. The economic hardship that is being leived on businesses here is further a demonstration of futile efforts of the Goverment forcing the private businesses to hire the unemployable minority of this citizenship. If this and the minimum wage becomes actionable then you will see and feel economic hardship in a short time period as a number of businesses will close.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Maybe bigger agendas afoot? Was it Bahamas that did something similar before it lost all it’s business to Cayman? Maybe we should be talking to other domiciles about a mass migration deal if CIG carries on with this stupidity.

    • Anonymous says:

      You darn right about bigger adgendas. Look at who is now in charge and research where the collusion and “cadoodling” comes in. Think back to 2009/2010!! As an employer I have to follow the Law, and I will. But it is a disgrace what’s happening in the CS today and the DG seems oblivious to what’s going on. Tara, get a hold of your Ministry and the relevant departments as they are failing and when they fail, you will as well.

      • Anonymous says:

        Tara would not recognize failure if it slapped her in the face. No wait a minute it already is.

  5. Anonymous says:

    The proposed Labour Law is the worst piece of legislation to have ever been developed. What are you thinking?

    • Anonymous says:

      What worries and concerns me, the majority of Employers, Chamber of Commerce, blogs, Lawyers,are all against this “proposed Labour Law”. Extending it a month isn’t going to make a difference. I am worried that at the end of the day, as Government always does, is pat itself on the back and say “the majority of people want this”, which will be total BS!!!! But how do we prove this. Hew Moses, James Bergstrom and I hope the Chamber don’t back down. This new Labour Law will be the downfall of a lot of companies!!! But maybe that is their plan, look who is buying up all of Cayman…very very sad and disturbing.

    • Anonymous says:

      Give the Labour Department the same rights as the RCIPS??? Are you out of your mind Tara. Oops I answered that questioned. Where I know there are times we all complain about the police but never the less they are law enforcement, training, etc. You are going to give the same powers to the Labour DePartment Director and a few officers…..what are you thinking?

  6. Anonymous says:

    The proposed new law is dumber than a sack of hair. Have any of the drafters of this law ever run a business? If they have it must have been in fantasy land.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Look for a big number of retirement age (65+) Caymanians to be on the street very soon due to the threat of massive increases in fair+unfair dismissal penalties in the proposed legislation. No business case can support keeping this marginally productive and group employed when faced with 4x severance costs.

  8. Uncivil Sevrant says:

    Burn them.

  9. Anonymous says:

    The entire piece of new proposed legislation should be scrapped, and a new start made.

    Eliminating the previous Director of Labour & Pensions from the equation will help get the matter right.

    • Anonymous says:

      Errr… actually no it wont. The officer who lost all those cases is now in charge! Typical. Lose a couple hundred thousand dollar case and you’re promoted. Workers lost homes Officer found promotion. Makes me wonder about motivation…smh

  10. Anonymous says:

    What they need to be concerned about is the LACK of customer service from Labour Officers and not be too worried about any new law. The labour office is rife with incompetence and totally lacks of any ability to assist people. No law in the world will make it better unless their is staff in their who have a concern about assisting people and enforcing the current law XXXXX. To Tara……do something about the performance and delivery of common courtesies from DLP, then once this is done, focus on your new laws.

    • Anonymous says:

      Look at the muppet/puppet leadership that’s there now. A friend of mine went there on August 18th before noon and up until now, nothing has been done to help him. New law isn’t needed, but new employees are.

      • Anonymous says:

        No my friend, you don’t understand that is why the current leadership needs two years for the time limit; so they will get time to call you back. Of course it will be two years and 1 day after. SMH. This is what happens when there is a lack of experienced Law enforcement Officers but a bunch of people looking for positions to further their ambitions to be HR Specialist and Law firm Partners in 18mths.

    • Anonymous says:

      That is because the leave at 3pm or call in sick crew is now in charge! but there is now one way glass in the doors so people on the outside can see who is reporting their employer on the inside. Think its their idea of being transparent. lol

  11. Anonymous says:

    They should accept as much feedback as they can.
    This is the worst idea and set of regulations that has ever been proposed.
    This would be a horrible mistake for Cayman, its businesses and in the end its people as it it currently written.

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