Labour Ministry recoups $69M in restitution for employees

In 2023, a total of 912 complaints from employees regarding various issues such as termination benefits, annual leave, unlawful deductions from salaries, overtime payments, failure to pay minimum wage and severance payments were lodged at the Labour Ministry.
The Ministry’s Labour Department was able to resolve 85 per cent of these complaints on behalf of the employees and the other 15 per cent would be resolved within the first quarter of 2024. This is according to Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton during the Ministry’s end of year press conference.
In this regard, 32 matters were filed in the Magistrates’ Courts. Of this number, 21 cases were resolved last year while 11 are still before the courts and are at different stages in the legal proceedings.

As a result of the resolved cases, a total of $69 million was recovered on behalf of employees, a 42 per cent increase when compared to 2022.
During his Ministry’s end of year press conference on Tuesday Hamilton disclosed that a large proportion of complaints were made by workers employed in the private security sector.
It was revealed that several companies in the sector aforementioned refused to pay basic minimum wage (60,147 per month) as stipulated by the National Tripartite Committee via the National Minimum Wage Order 2022.
“People still failing to pay $60-something thousand per month, $15,000-something per week, we still have to deal with that, those are matters in court. Most especially and grievously the security companies notorious. One time we had about 400 cases against one person in the court…as I speak to you CLO is looking at a matter where somebody is offering 10 million dollars to resolve an issue. He’s saying to me that when he starts to compute the 10 million dollar it in even scratch the surface of what they owe the employee,” Hamilton said.
The Minister explained that Government’s goal is to resolve the remaining cases this year, and engage employers through forums such as seminars, in an effort to reduce such complaints.
Those will be paired with efforts to conduct business inspections to ensure companies comply with the legislative requirements governing conditions of work.

Social dialogue
The Ministry in 2023 continued its social dialogue through the National Tripartite Committee, between Government, employers’ and workers’ organisations on topics such as inclusive economic growth, better wages and working conditions.
In this regard, the National Tripartite Committee, with technical support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has commenced the development of the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) 2024-2028.
The DWCP’s primary goal is to spearhead efforts that will result in positive changes in the world of work in Guyana. All actions to be taken will align with key areas of development that are also aligned with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Complaints’ procedure and prosecution
When an employee makes a complaint, the Ministry then invites both the employer and the employee to a meeting to hear both parties and then based on the facts and circumstances, a decision/recommendation is made in keeping with Guyana’s labour laws.
The Ministry’s primary goal is to resolve all complaints amicably, ensure that the process is fair, transparent and without prejudice or bias.
If the decision made is in favour of the employee and the employer does not honour that decision, then the case is taken to the Magistrate’s Court for enforcement.