Labour And You Overview

In any and every organization, there is a level of demand for its products and services in their physical or intangible forms. And for the successful delivery of these products and services, the factors of production are essential - labour, capital, entrepreneurship and land. Coupled with these factors is the need to have a strategic plan in place, a resilient business model and a strong value preposition. These all add up to contribute to our having an efficient and agile labour market, which gives rise to the need to protect labour – both employees and employers. And this is where the Labour Department comes in, as we make ourselves ready and available to provide labour administration services to all, champion decent work, promote tripartism and social dialogue, and ensure that there is compliance with and enforcement of our labour laws and international conventions.

During the 2019/2020 one year period, the Labour Department recommitted ourselves to be of greater service to our country through the labour administration services – by ourselves and in collaboration with our local and international partners. As a result of this, the Department was able to conduct more labour education sessions and labour inspections. The Department was also able to reduce the number of labour complaints and resolve more trade disputes. The Department was able to provide invaluable contributions to national and regional (CARICOM) policy development. And the Department continued to network with local, regional and international partners and stakeholders to seek support to address the future of work in our country.

As the above were being achieved under the exemplary leadership and balanced guidance of our Minister and Chief Executive Officer, we also gave priority to developing the institutional capacity and the bench strength of the Department through staff training and development and a greater utilization of information and communication technology. Already, we are beginning to observe a more technically skilled and experienced staff, who are more highly motivated to go above and beyond to get the job done. And we are also seeing a more modern Department in the way we keep abreast of local and international labour matters to be of service to the country.

There is no doubt that a lot is expected from the Labour Department, rightly so. And you can be assured that with your co-operation and assistance, we will continue to be of service to you in our usually professional, confidential and friendly manner. As such, we thank all our staff, current and former, and all of you with whom we have worked with to ensure that for this 2019/2020 period year, we ensured that our labour market was one that was stable yet dynamic and the rights of our works and employers were respected.