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The Government of Jamaica will be developing a Light and Hazardous Work List, which will outline specific activities that children are restricted from participating in, so as to prevent them from engaging in hazardous work.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Shahine Robinson, said the list will better guide Jamaicans “as to what children are allowed to be engaged in and the (activities) they are restricted from engaging in”.

She was speaking at the launch of the Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce Child Labour (CLEAR II) Project at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew on Tuesday (June 26).

The Light and Hazardous Work List is one of five activities of the CLEAR II project, which is being undertaken by the Ministry through support from non-profits Winrock International and Lawyers Without Borders.

At the launch, Mrs. Robinson and Senior Director, Civil Society and Education, Winrock International, David Dobrowolski, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the start of the project activities.

According to a release from Winrock International, Light and Hazardous Work Lists allow governments to protect children and youth from participating in work that would be considered harmful to their health and safety, by naming specific activities that are allowable and unallowable for minors.

CLEAR II intends to provide technical assistance to the Occupational Health and Safety Department and the Child Labour Unit to review and finalise regulations pertaining to child labour, including light work and hazardous works lists, under the Occupational Safety and Health Bill.

As part of the undertaking, Winrock and Lawyers Without Borders will work with the Labour Ministry to strengthen legislation that addresses child labour issues, including bringing national laws into compliance with international standards; improve monitoring and enforcement of laws and policies related to child labour; and ensure effective implementation of national plans of action on child labour.

CLEAR II activities in Jamaica will also focus on the implementation of child labour prosecution training of trainers; development of a national action plan to combat child labour; organisation of a child protection collaboration workshop and coordination plan; and provide support for a study on street children.

The project is funded by the United States Department of Labour under a cooperative agreement with Winrock International.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/government-to-develop-light-and-hazardous-work-list-for-children/

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Shahine Robinson, has reiterated calls for citizens of Jamaica to put an end to child labour and allow the nation’s youth to enjoy their adolescence.

Speaking at the launch of the Country Level Engagement and Assistance to Reduce Child Labour (CLEAR II) Project at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew on Tuesday (June 26), Mrs. Robinson said if all Jamaicans do not join forces and ensure children are not engaging in child labour, then the objective of the Government for zero tolerance will not be achieved.

“As Minister of Labour and Social Security, I am deeply concerned about the global trend in child labour,” Mrs. Robinson said.

“Principle two of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child [proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 1386] declares that ‘The child shall enjoy special protection and shall be given opportunities and facilities by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity’,” the Minister added.

Mrs. Robinson also noted that data from the Jamaica Youth Activity Survey (JYAS) that contain information on child labour in Jamaica is alarming.

“According to the survey, up to 2016, there were an estimated 657,697 children between the ages of five and 17 years in Jamaica, and from that total, 37,965 were recorded to be involved in child labour activities, with 25,797 being boys and 12,168 were girls,” she said.

“Furthermore, out of the 37,965 children involved in child labour, an estimated 26,053 were involved in hazardous work, and based on investigation, children are almost twice likely to be involved in child labour in the rural areas, compared to urban areas,” she added.

The Minister called on Jamaicans to ensure that child labour is non-existent in their communities.

CLEAR II is a new programme through which Winrock and Lawyers without Borders will work with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to reduce child labour, with the following intermediate objectives – improving legislation that addresses child labour issues, including bringing national laws into compliance with international standards; improving the monitoring and enforcement of laws and policies related to child labour; and effective implementation of national plans of action on child labour.

Activities on CLEAR II will focus on the development of light and hazardous work lists, a Child Labour Prosecution Training of Trainers, the development of a National Action Plan to Combat Child Labour, organisation of a National Action Plan Child Protection Collaboration Workshop and Coordination Plan; and support for a study on street children.

This project is funded by the United States Department of Labour, under a cooperative agreement with Winrock International.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/minister-calls-on-jamaicans-to-put-an-end-to-child-labour/

The Honourable Shahine Robinson, Minister of Labour and Social Security, represented Jamaica at the 2018 International Labour Conference, held in Geneva, from May 28 to June 8, 2018. A side meeting was also convened among CARICOM Labour Ministers and Mr Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Minister Robinson, in representing her CARICOM colleagues, sought the ILO’s continued partnership in key areas including:

1. Assisting the region in transitioning establishments from the informal to formal economy;
2. Building the region’s resilience to the impact of natural disasters, migration, and health issues including HIV/AIDS; and
3. Undertaking labour market research in the region to inform curriculum development and training.

Mr Guy Ryder, as part of his response, endorsed as a priority, the building of mitigation strategies to build greater resilience to the impact of natural disasters, migration and health issues impacting work.

The meeting was attended by Heads of Delegation and Ambassadors of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Haiti.

Concerned that vulnerable job seekers are being defrauded by some employ-ment agencies, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has advised that the charging of a fee for job placement under the H-2B programme is prohibited.

The ministry said it has taken note of a Sunday Gleaner article, which highlighted the recent attempt by one employment agency to misappropriate money paid by a United States-based company to assist with the processing of documents for Jamaicans selected to work at a number of companies in the US.

“The ministry views with grave concern the unscrupulous activities of employment agencies in defrauding vulnerable job seekers and unsuspecting employers of their monies under the guise of job placement,” said a press release from the ministry.

“An employment agency shall not charge any fee to any person for his placement in employment in any programme which requires a H-2B visa issued by the government of the United States of America or in any other programme for the placement of persons in employment outside Jamaica, which prohibits the charging of fees to persons seeking placement in employment under that programme.”

The ministry said it will be ramping up its public awareness campaign and is urging the public or those employing Jamaican workers to consult with the ministry or its website to obtain a list of registered employment agencies.

Persons are also urged to take note of the fact that employment agencies must have a physical office, and must have a copy of their licence displayed in the office at all times.

nadine.wilson@gleanerjm.com

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20180615/fee-not-required-overseas-job-says-labour-ministry

Productivity is one of the key factors constraining Jamaica’s economic growth and living standard. Therefore, improvement in productivity is a strategic means to enhance competitiveness and economic growth.

Generally speaking, it is desirable for real wages to increase in order to improve the standard of living as well as reduce poverty. However, increase in real wages without a corresponding increase in productivity could give rise to inflationary pressures, erode international competitiveness and diminish our ability to attract foreign investment.

Productivity-linked wage system (PLWS) and performance-incentive system are used interchangeably in this article. PLWS is a compensation framework which seeks to establish a practical link between wages and productivity, or between performance and compensation. Such linkage results in greater flexibility and dynamism in setting wages. The three most widely used,and simplest to apply, PLWS are the: profitability model, productivity model and a combination of profitability and productivity models.

The profitability model is made up of a fixed component (basic salary and annual increment) combined with a variable component determined by a profit-sharing formula.This variable component will be paid when the profits earned by the company exceed a predetermined level. This level of profit can be calculated based on return on investment and average profits earned in the past several years.

The productivity model is comprised of a fixed component (basic salary and increment) plus a variable component determined by a productivity sharing formula. Productivity can be measured as labour productivity, capital productivity, total factor productivity or a weighted average of several key performance indicators. The idea is to keep the productivity measure as simple as possible to get worker buy-in.

The combined model consists of a fixed component (basic salary and increments) plus variable components consisting of profit and productivity sharing formulae. The combine model serves to make the point that a business can be profitable because it can manipulate prices, but not productive.

PLWS aims to encourage employers and employees to pursue higher levels of productivity or performance as a viable and sustainable source of higher real incomes for workers and higher revenues and profits for enterprises. PLWS is concerned with developing a compensation framework in which employees attain increased levels of income if their team, department, or entire company reaches some specified performance targets. It is generally conceptualised as a motivational tool aimed at persuading employees to work more diligently- bringing benefits to the business and at the same time providing added income for the worker. PLWS not only account for individual performance, but also performance of teams. This can be a valuable benefit, as knowing that compensation increases can be based in part on the performance of the team will often encourage employees to operate as a cohesive unit in order to reach a common goal.

PLWS ensures that workers are paid based on productivity or performance, as opposed to hours spent on the job at a fixed salary. It sees to the development of a systematic and flexible compensation framework which improves both productivity and wages, while ensuring that wages are not rising faster than productivity. Furthermore, a flexible compensation system avoids labour shedding during periods of economic downturn.

PLWS ensures that employees obtain a fair share from productivity growth and performance improvement by rewarding workers for their contribution on the successful achievement of strategic goals. It assists in recruiting and retaining the best employees by engaging them to participate in and contribute to the organisation’s success. Finally, PLWS communicates and reinforce the values, goals and objectives of the company.

The benefits of implementing a PLWS include: (a) payment of wages that will be adjusted according to performance instead of paying for time spent on the job. In so doing, it offers an incentive for workers to step up their effort levels. It therefore represents a potential mechanism through which to bring about overall productivity improvements; (b) ensuring employment stability and reducing the probability of workforce retrenchment during an economic slowdown; (c) creating a win-win situation for employees and employers as gains in performance are shared; (d) enabling companies to adjust their compensation according to prevailing economic conditions; (e) improving job specialisation according to skill; (f) enhancing the career of employees; and (g) improving employees’ motivation and job satisfaction.

There is a growing body of empirical evidence confirming that when carefully designed and managed, PLWS can, and often do, induce workers to work harder and smarter and to use existing technologies in new and better ways to enhance productivity.

In addition to the above general benefits, the case study of the bauxite/alumina industry in Jamaica highlights practical quantitative and qualitative benefits of successfully implementing a performance incentive scheme. This case is documented by Michael O Mitchell, formerly of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, in the Book Chapter titled: “Productivity Improvement in the Jamaican Bauxite / Alumina Sector”edited by Imonitie C. Imoisili and Andre-Vincent Henry.

Mitchell notes that because of the performance incentive scheme in the bauxite/alumina industry, there was an overall improvement in critical quantitative indicators such as: production, unit costs of production, unit operating costs and unit labour cost.

Mitchell also observed that there were five qualitative benefits emanating from implementation of the performance incentive scheme in the Jamaican bauxite/alumina sector:First, the productivity incentive scheme created a great deal of excitement among workers and managers in several other sectors and industries and, in fact, became a standard for labour management cooperation in Jamaica. Several private and state run companies requested and were given the bauxite/alumina template.

Second, there was a significant increase in worker morale which has translated into heightened awareness of performance at the various plants and work sites.

Third, marked improvement in workplace transparency was one of the most pronounced feature in the work environment. This resulted from the practical need to share information with workers that was previously treated as confidential. This opened the way for new confidence and trust on the part of the workforce.

Fourth, apart from the renewed confidence, the real knowledge about plant performance and the workers’role in affecting outcomes has raised worker consciousness far above what the normal training programmes could have accomplished.

Fifth, coupled with the greater degree of transparency was the enhanced participation of workers in decision-making processes such as reviewing past results, setting of production targets for outputs, unit cost, raw material use, health, safety and environmental practices.

In light of the foregoing, it is reasonable to recommend that Jamaican companies seek to improve their productivity and competitiveness by benefiting from what we currently know about PLWS. Indeed, as far back as 1998 Professor Donald J. Harris & Ute Schumacher from Stanford University suggested that PLWS or productivity incentive schemes, have been promoted by both employer and employee representatives as offering significant potential for productivity improvements in Jamaica.

Research carried out on the effectiveness of PLWS in Malaysia showed that companies that have successfully implemented the strategy boosted productivity levels at the workplace, thereby contributing to economic growth and development. Specifically, 24 per cent of Malaysian companies implemented the PLWS and contributed a 15 per cent increase to productivity.

As at 2016, over 78,000 companies in Malaysia implemented PLWS benefiting some 3.3 million workers. The service sector was the biggest implementer with 58,067 employers adopting the system followed by the manufacturing sector (10,067), construction sector (5,258), and the agricultural sector (3,901).

It is hoped that this article will accelerate and deepen the conversation about PLWS as a mechanism for promoting productivity and competitiveness in Jamaica. In particular, it is expected that this conversation will enable all parties: especially government, employers, employees and trade unions to enhance their understanding of the concepts, objectives, potential benefits, and best practice implementation strategies that are applicable to different organisations. A one size fits all approach will not work!

– Charles Douglas is executive director of the Jamaica Productivity Centre

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20180618/school-productivity-campaign-performance-linked-wage-system-can-boost

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) stands ready to provide a range of well needed support services to members of the disabled community.

Persons with disabilities are therefore being encouraged to register with the JCPD to receive the economic, educational and social development benefits available.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Dr. Christine Hendricks, says the registration process is in two parts, which includes medical verification of an individual’s disability.

She tells JIS News that the medical report form can be accessed on the JCPD’s website at www.jcpdja.com, at the JCPD’s head office at 18 Ripon Road in St. Andrew, and at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security or the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) offices islandwide.

Dr. Hendricks says it is required that a medical professional relevant to the type of disability signs and stamps the forms.

The individual should then submit the form to the JCPD, along with a passport-sized photograph, TRN card, birth certificate, a national identification (ID) and provide relevant demographic information as requested.

“The disability has to be a permanent physical, intellectual, mental or sensory impairment determined by a medical professional in order for the person to be registered,” Dr. Hendricks points out.
Some 33,200 persons are currently registered with the JCPD.

Dr. Hendricks notes that among the benefits for members is the provision of economic empowerment grants to help persons become independent by starting or expanding small businesses. Grants range from $30,000 to $150,000.

Assistance-in-aid of up to $250,000 is also provided for assisted devices and therapies.

Educational benefits include scholarships, school fee support, books and assistance with other school-related materials.

Dr. Hendricks tells JIS News that the JCPD also provides medical support and assist persons with accessing National Housing Trust (NHT) benefits.

Disabled persons who are members of the JCPD also receive concessionary bus fares for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

“I want to encourage persons with disabilities in the wider society who have a disability to get registered. Once you have an impairment, the JCPD exists to ensure that you are registered and can benefit from the numerous grants and other support services that are provided through the Government for persons with disabilities,” Dr. Hendricks says.

She is urging family members, friends, neighbours and employers to assist the disabled in getting registered with the JCPD.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/jcpd-ready-to-assist-members-of-disabled-community/

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) is encouraging young persons with disabilities to take advantage of scholarships being offered at both the secondary and tertiary levels.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Dr. Christine Hendricks, told JIS News that scholarships available to persons with disabilities include the Margaret Moody Scholarship, the Jamaica Society for the Blind Scholarship and the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship.

The Margaret Moody Scholarship, administered by the JCPD, is open to persons pursuing studies at the diploma, associate degree or bachelor’s degree level.

Dr. Hendricks said the scholarship scheme was established with the objective to provide financial assistance to persons with disabilities to enable access to tertiary education and courses for specialist qualification, and to encourage academic excellence among persons with disabilities.

She further said that the scholarship aims to impact the ability of disabled persons to integrate into the employment sector and to strengthen the sector through improved self-advocacy; leadership for community development; and the stimulation of a more positive attitude for self-actualisation among persons with disabilities.

The Margaret Moody Scholarship is named in honour of a former nurse, who bequeathed a grant of $582,392 to the community of disabled persons when she died in 1985. The money was invested on behalf of the sector and the interest from the investment is used to finance the scholarship annually.

Scholarship grants do not exceed $150,000 per student per annum and can be used for tuition, boarding and other academic material.

Dr. Hendricks said the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB) Scholarship is for persons who are blind or visually impaired, while the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship is for persons with all types of disabilities, except blindness or visual impairment.

Scholarships are valued at $50,000 at the secondary level and $100,000 at the tertiary level.

The deadline for application to the three scholarships is July 31, and applicants must be registered with the JCPD to be eligible.

All application forms are available on the JCPD’s website at www.jcpdja.com and at the JCPD’s office at 18 Ripon Road in St. Andrew. The application forms for the JSB Scholarship and the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship are also available at the Jamaica Society for the Blind at 111½ Old Hope Road.

Interested persons may also contact the JCPD at 968-8373, 968-0623 or 926-9374-6.

“We want to encourage persons with disabilities, some who may never have heard about [these scholarships], to apply. We know that from time to time persons have challenges finding money for tuition, particularly at the higher level. So, we want them to know assistance is available,” Dr. Hendricks said.

She added that the scholarships are particularly important to the disabled community, as they give a fair opportunity for access, without the possibility of discrimination.

Dr. Hendricks also encouraged persons with disabilities to check with the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Office, for Special Student Services; and the UWI Centre for Disability Studies for additional scholarship options.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/young-persons-with-disabilities-invited-to-apply-for-scholarships/

Workplaces will be better equipped to deal with persons with disabilities when the Codes of Practice is completed.

The document will guide employers on how to ensure that the employee is not at a disadvantage.

The Codes of Practice will provide minimum standards by which the public will be guided on how to interact with, and allow for the participation of persons with disabilities. It is a component of the Disabilities Act which was passed in Parliament in October 2014.

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), an agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is developing the codes, so as to expand the level of participation in the society by persons with disabilities.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Christine Hendricks, tells JIS News that the Council is in the process of drafting the first two Codes of Practice – Education and Training, and Employment.

“This should be finished by mid-year into the latter half of this year, so by year end we should have those two done already,” she notes.

Mrs. Hendricks says the rules will provide the public with practical guidance on how to include persons with disabilities in the two critical areas.

“It is not going to be a legal document. It’s going to be a practical document that any Jamaican can pick up and utilise. It is to provide that support to the Act, so that persons know what this inclusion of persons with disabilities means,” she adds.

The Executive Director points out that sometimes persons are hesitant to employ or have persons with disabilities in the classroom, because “they don’t know how to deal with them, and, as a result, they exclude them”.

She notes that the hesitancy by some persons to employ persons with disabilities often comes across as discrimination.

Steps are also being taken to improve the level of access for the physically challenged in schools. A budget of $50 million has been earmarked by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to equip schools with wheelchair ramps.

A ‘Ramps for Schools’ project, which was launched on Labour Day, May 23 at the St Ann’s Bay Infant School, aims to install two in each of the island’s 63 constituencies.

“It’s an excellent move by the Parliament of Jamaica, having accepted the Motion moved by Senator Floyd Morris, who has been an excellent champion, making sure the disability agenda gets moving at the highest level,” Miss Hendricks says.

In March 2018, Senator Floyd Morris, who is visually impaired, moved the motion calling on the Government to use Labour Day 2018 to build ramps in schools. The motion was accepted by members of the Upper House, following which the Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, issued the charge for the National Education Trust, working with other partners, to implement the project.

Mrs. Hendricks says that access to schools, health centres and other facilities by persons with disabilities is very important to Jamaica’s development and achieving the goals in the Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Plan.

“It is my hope that it (Ramps for Schools) doesn’t just stop at schools and health centres, but that it permeates throughout the society, that anywhere I go as a person with a disability, I can go and shop like anybody else because I can have access to the space,” she says.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Combined Disabilities Association, Gloria Goffe, also wants to see a continuation of the building of wheelchair ramps, especially in those schools that do not have accessible features.

“We are not just talking about ramps and about rails; we are talking about widening bathrooms, we are talking about even the way the classrooms are constructed to accommodate people with disabilities. We want a society where somebody does not have to leave their home to go to a special school, but they can remain in their home environment and attend a school nearest to them,” she says.

Miss Goffe is also appealing to persons to follow the guidelines when constructing wheelchair ramps, noting that there are complaints of ramps being built “either too steep, too narrow, too high, too wide or too smooth”.

The Executive Director emphasises that wheelchair ramps should have non-skid surfaces.

She is also calling for the installation of more kerb cuts adjoining the streets, while lamenting that some are not being constructed to specification.

“We want a society where access on the roadway is for persons with physical disabilities, persons who are deaf, persons who are blind, and persons with any kind of intellectual disability who can move about freely,” she tells JIS News.

“The Jamaica Constitution speaks about the freedom of movement. Our Disabilities Act speaks about freedom of movement of persons with disabilities, and as a society that wants to be First World by 2030, ‘First World’ means access to everyone.”

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is working to reposition itself as a driver of growth as the Government advances its mandate for increased job creation and development.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Colette Roberts-Risden, said this is the philosophy that will guide the Ministry towards the future.

She also noted that this is a key recommendation of the Labour Market Reform Commission (LMRC), established in 2015.

Mrs. Roberts-Risden was addressing a Productivity Forum on May 17 as part of National Workers’ Week and in recognition of the 80th Anniversary of the Labour Department of Jamaica.

It was hosted under the theme ‘Ramping Up Productivity through Innovation’. The forum was hosted by the Jamaica Productivity Centre.

The LMRC has a mandate to ensure that the country’s labour market structure, regulations, policies, programmes and projects become compatible with modern practices in order to improve productivity and economic growth.

“Labour is a key component for growth. The modernisation of labour and focusing on productivity is where we are pushing. One of the challenges going forward is how we deal with the changing nature of employment, increasing informality and non-standard forms of contract,” Mrs. Roberts-Risden said.

She argued that improvements in productivity in the workplace across all sectors will be the driving factor in the country achieving its growth targets.

The Permanent Secretary used her presentation to highlight the journey of the Department since its establishment in 1938, which includes passing and amending a number of critical legislation.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/labour-ministry-takes-position-in-growth-drive/

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security continues to champion productivity as a means of driving economic growth.

State Minister, Hon. Zavia Mayne, said labour productivity or output must be improved by each worker in order to realise progress in advancing the country’s standard of living in the short- to long-term.

He argued that by improving labour output, jurisdictions such as China, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, have been able to grow their gross domestic product (GDP) at an average of more than six per cent per annum over the past seven decades.

Mr. Mayne was addressing the opening of a Productivity Forum on Thursday (May 17), at The Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingtson.

He said that in order to enhance productivity, wastage in homes and workplaces must be eliminated; skill levels must be continually increased; managerial capacity and effectiveness improved; and the amount of capital per worker must also increase.

Mr. Mayne further noted that more information and communications technology (ICT) will need to be applied in industries, as well as innovation in production processes.

The Productivity Forum, hosted by the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) under the theme ‘Ramping up Productivity through Innovation’, was held as part of National Workers’ Week activities and to mark the 80th Anniversary of the 1938 labour protests and establishment of the Labour Department.

The event brought together stakeholders from government and the private sector to share information on how implementation of specific innovations has boosted the productivity levels in their firms and organisations.

It included a panel discussion on the application of innovation as a productivity driver.

Source: http://jis.gov.jm/labour-ministry-continues-push-for-greater-levels-of-productivity/