Published by Youri Kemp, Nassau Guardian, October 21, 2024
The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation’s (BCCEC) labor division head said that businesses want the government’s General Orders reformed, along with increased maternity and paternity leave, in the latest labor legislation reformation process.
Peter Goudie told Guardian Business that he is giving the Ministry of Labour and the Public Service (MLPS) his full support in their efforts to reform a suite of labor-related laws. The General Orders are the codes of conduct for civil servants. They are an employment handbook for all pensionable civil servants.
Goudie said: “I fully agree with what they’re doing. But it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process, but we’re going to try and do it right. And as they said, they’re going to involve the tripartite group. In other words, it will be the workers, the employers and government, and so it sounds good to me.”
The MPSL released a summary of their white paper on upcoming legislative reforms to the various labor laws in the country two weeks ago. The recommendations in the white paper include changes to key legislation such as the Employment Act, Industrial Relations Act, Public Service Act, and General Orders. The comprehensive list of 255 recommendations are focused on enhancing worker protections, promoting business growth, and ensuring fair and inclusive labor practices.
Speaking on behalf of the business community, Goudie said the foremost item for reform on behalf of businesses is that of the General Orders. “We’re in favor of putting in paternity leave and increasing maternity leave. There’s a number of things we’d like to see modernized,” he said.
Goudie said the General Orders have not been updated since they were first enacted in 1959, and a lot has changed over the past decades. Foremost is the country going independent. “We want it updated so the government can run as a business and make it more modern and effective,” Goudie said.
While the white paper’s summary outlined what is being looked at by the MLPS, it did not go into any specifics on what will be amended and why.
“I took a look at the white paper, and it had over 200 recommendations. Now what’s got to happen now is that all those recommendations need to be published, and then it’s got to go out to town hall meetings, to the employers, and everybody else to get further input. And so, they can’t make any recommendations right now because they don’t have everybody’s input,” Goudie insisted.
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