Passports should remain with migrant workers

By Cara L. Foster

The passports of migrant employees should remain in their possession.

This remark was made by Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, the Hon. Esther Byer Suckoo, as she gave the opening remarks at a Safety Workshop, which was put on by the Barbados Contractors’ Association at the Ministry of Labour’s head office yesterday morning.
“The passports of migrant workers are their property and are not to be retained by employers,” she stressed.

“All employers of migrant workers should familiarise themselves with the Migrant Labour Protocol document which is essentially a compendium of their legal rights and obligations.”

She expressed that while the Government was working to ensure that work permits are not issued when adequate workers are available here, it was necessary to remind employers, should they need to employ migrant workers, that the passports of the migrants should not be in the employer’s possession.
She also reminded employers in the construction sector that all workers “whether local or migrant, are guaranteed the same protections under the law; safety and health, decent housing sanitation, wages, time off, social security and representation by the Chief of Labour Officer.”

The Minister went on to remind employers that they must have their Sexual Harassment policies in place by June 15th this year.

“Furthermore, just a reminder that the Employment Sexual Harassment Prevention Act was proclaimed on December 15th, giving employers until June 15th 2018 to have their Sexual Harassment polices in place,” she said.

“I know that there may not be many women in the sector current, but more and more women are being employed; but bear in mind that the policy is for the prevention of not only male-on-female harassment, but male-on-male, female-on-male and all variations of sexual harassment.”

She encouraged the employers present to follow the information in the Schedule of the Act and assured that the Labour Department will assist in whatever way they could, along with the guidance of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation, as well as human resources professionals.