A situation has been brewing at BTL for over a year and as it turns out, all eyes are on the result of a trial which concluded yesterday. A former employee of the company, who had retired in 2019, is suing them because, while he received a pension scheme, he has not received severance.
As Oscar Gongora's attorney, Darrell Bradley, explained, he and his client are of the opinion the two are not mutually exclusive, according to the labor act.
And because BTL has not laid out in clear terms whether a severance package is included in the pension scheme, it has left a lot of former employees unsure of how to proceed.
And that's why they're all waiting for this judgement, which should be handed down in the near future, to set a precedent.
Today, Bradley explained in depth what their position is and why this case may go as far as the Court of Appeal.
Darrell Bradley - Attorney "Essentially what has transpired is that BTL has a pension scheme but it is our respectful opinion that that pension scheme does not make any allocation for the payment of severance and my client's position is that the two are not in the alternative, there's a statutory obligation to pay severance established under the labour act and most employers in Belize especially large employers have pension schemes but a pension scheme is contractual, it is an obligation that both the employer and employee pays and it our position is that cannot that cannot negate the duty of an employer to pay what is their statutory obligation upon retirement or termination which is to pay severance. There's quite a bit of people out there who want this issue to be resolved so I expect that it will be an issue which perhaps will still be contentious, an issue which may very well go on appeal because of the volume of interest out there. A lot of people have left the institution and this question lingers whether they are entitled to severance or not. My client worked for BTL faithfully for a significant period of time and he believes that he's owed what is his statutory entitlement. The trial has been concluded and we are to file written submissions in relation to the matter and shortly thereafter we will get a judgement and that judgement will set clearly in our opinion what the position would be as it relates to his entitlement to severance."
Bradley told us that several other former employees have retained his services along with that of other lawyers for this same issue.
