Employers and stakeholders engaged in an informative session led by the Ministry of Labour today on workplace rights and responsibilities, giving participants some insight on labour standards and fair workplace practices. We spoke to 2 of the presenters:
Domingo Pau, Labor Officer, Labor Department
"This is a countrywide labor education that we are conducting this is one out of the many this is also in collaboration with the first of May Labor Day activities and this is labor education session that we have invited both the chamber and basically employers, workers educating them of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to then labor legislation."
"It is a proactive approach because the labor department promotes healthy, industrial peace and harmony in the work place and we want that before anything, any labor grievances or any disputes within the employment that we prefer to educate employers and workers of their rights and responsibilities so that they can do the right thing. Yes in the past you know we have been having a lot of complaints coming from the public whether it is from the employer or from the employees themselves but we have noticed that taking this proactive approach helps you know to decrease those complaints because then workers are employers are then able to do the right thing and be guided by the advice and labor legislation being provided to them. "
Kim Aikman, CEO, Belize Chamber Of Commerce and Industry
"We spoke about how important it is to have harmonious relations with workers and employers and when we are working in collaboration the economy flourishes because the employer invests in the employee the employee is happy and the economic activity happens. You know it is a very challenging time for employers and employees because there is a shortage of workers in Belize I think throughout the region there is a shortage of workers so when you have a worker that is good most employees try, most employers would try to incentivize that worker to keep them happy. Right now because there is a shortage of workers people just are moving from one organization to the other and it ends up being that the employer has to do more and more and more to keep that worker and to keep that worker happy."
