Often-times here at 7NEWS, we hear the complaint that no one looks after the rights of workers - especially not the Labour Department. Well, today, Labour tried to change all that with an open day showing off all the good work that they do. Each year the Labour Department investigates at least two hundred and seventy five cases filed by employees. So far this year 185 reports have been received and only forty five percent are still pending. According to Labour Commissioner Hertha Gentle-Barber her department is an extremely active advocate for workers rights and not just one more slow moving arm of an entangled bureaucracy. She told Jacqueline Godwin that her department has many functions.
Hertha Gentle-Barber, Acting Labour Commissioner
"The first thing, the Labour Department works for the worker, we work for the employer, we do not take any sides. I think the problem is that the public do not know the services that we offer. For example we do much more than taking labor complaints and settling them or investigating them, we provide the services in terms of occupational safety and health, we provide employment services and as you see here us showcasing today we provide services in terms of HIV in the workplace as well. So I think the public has a fear of coming to the Labour Department. Often times you hear people say I do not want to go to Labour because if I go my employer will know. That is one myth that I want people to know that is not so. You come here and everything done here is done confidentially."
