News Categories: Business

MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Shahine Robinson says that a number of parish offices across the island will be upgraded and renovated in short order.

“Having gone around the island and looked at them, I realised that most of them have outgrown their useful capacity, and also, we have a large number of disabled persons who must access the services,” she said.

She noted that tenders are out for the refurbishing of the St James parish office and another on Ripon Road in Kingston.

Work is already under way at the St Ann parish office.

“It will be a beautiful new complex. It should be completed in June and we hope to move in by the end of this year,” she added.

Robinson was speaking at the official opening of the new state-of-the-art Hanover parish office on Thursday.

The 4,000-square foot facility, located at Bustamante Square in Lucea, was purchased at a cost of $92 million, with an additional $20 million spent to complete refurbishing works.

It houses the various social departments that fall under the ministry, to include the National Insurance Scheme, Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education, the Labour Division, National Council for Senior Citizens, among others.

Robinson said the facility will better serve the needs of the residents of Hanover.

“This new office is the first in a series that will provide the ministry with a better chance of pursuing its mandate of providing effective social protection for the needy, promoting social inclusion for all, providing sustainable industrial relations standards, promoting productivity growth, ensuring safety and health for all workers, and maintaining an effective and efficient labour market,” she noted.

The vision of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is to contribute to national development through the provision of efficient and effective labour and social security services, within the context of a globalised economy.

It is mandated to promote a stable industrial climate through tripartite dialogue; ensure the highest standards of occupational safety and health at the workplace; facilitate increased access to employment; and effectively manage social protection programmes for groups with special needs — including persons below the poverty line, the elderly and the disabled.

Source: Jamaica Observer

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security will use a US$1.5 million fund from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to strengthen its work permit system. The improvement of the system, according to Minister Shahine Robinson, is to be done under the public sector modernisation project.

“I want to assure you that there is a rigorous process in place for the work permit applications. The IDB, through the Ministry of Finance, will fund the strengthening of our work permit system. The aim of the programme is to roll out a new client-focused, web-based work permit system that will be linked to the Labour Market Information System,” Robinson said at her ministry’s quarterly press briefing yesterday.

SKILLS BANK

She said that it is envisioned that the new system will, among other things, provide a local skills bank in relation to the importation of skilled workers, resulting in more stringent measures for approval. It will also serve to shorten the time allotted for processing and will assist in simplifying the process of doing business in Jamaica.

Robinson also disclosed that effective April 1, work permit fees would be standardised across all sectors of the labour market. Work permit application fees will increase from $15,000 to $17,250. Work permit fees will now be $48,875 per quarter or part thereof. This equates to $195,500 per annum.

According to the minister, the adjustment is necessary because of the disparity across the system in regards of fees being charged.

She said that in the case of persons coming to Jamaica to work, it would make more sense for the adoption of a single standard-fee policy that would cover all sectors of employment.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Montego Bay Community College (MBCC), in an effort to bridge the skills gap and form a sustainable nexus between jobseekers and employers in the western region of the country.

The signing took place at the opening ceremony of the St. James leg of the Ministry’s ‘Labour Department and You’ roadshow, held at the Civic Centre in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

Labour Component Coordinator of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Integrated Social Protection and Labour Project, administered by the Ministry, Lyndon Ford, said that coming out of a research done by the Ministry’s Labour Market Information System (LMIS),   the findings showed that there are a number of hot jobs in the western region, but employers are finding it difficult to identify the right talents.

The project is therefore geared towards facilitating the job-readiness of candidates through training workshops that build their capacity to craft proper résumés, prepare for interviews and learn how to work in teams.

Mr. Ford pointed out that the MoU is designed to help institutions such as the MBCC to identify training needs and craft solutions to address those needs.

“The partnership will also ensure that students are registered to our job bank (lmis.gov.jm) while improving the cadre and quality of candidates for our registered employers to select from, so that we can continue to address the issues of unemployment and contribute to Jamaica’s productivity and development,” he explained.

Source: JIS