Examining The Protection of Employment Legislation

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country. If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can always be pretended.” – Thomas Jefferson.

There are several managers at all levels within organizations who are responsible for managing employees, but they do not know the Protection of Employment Act.

They believe that the responsibility is on the human resource manager to know the law on behalf of the company. Similarly, employees do not know the law. They operate in ignorance, hoping that managers would be familiar with the law and will abide by it. The big problem arises when managers familiarize themselves with the law to exploit any loop holes, and when employees are not aware that they are being exploited.

As human resource managers, specialists or whatever name we are called, we have a responsibility to ensure that managers and employees operate within the scope of the Law. The surest way to achieve this is to ensure that both parties are familiar with the Law. Over the next few weeks we will visit the ‘sticky’ subject of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Protection of Employment Act, 2003.

There are some employers who believe that the SVG Protection of Employment Act, 2003 should be kept away from employees. They believe that employees will be more compliant if they are ignorant to the Law. It is important to note that this series will not be sharing any classified information. The Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Protection of Employment Act, 2003 is in the public domain and is available to be purchased from the Government Printery SVG, or can be downloaded from the internet. It is recommended that every employee and every manager gets a copy.

Protection against dismissal without good cause:

There is a practice in many organizations where, when an allegation is made against an employee, a decision is made to terminate the employee without ever having a conversation with the employee. In some cases, the termination letter is prepared, then the employee is called in, told what is alleged and what the consequence of their action is. Whether the employee’s version contradicts what was alleged or not, the termination stands.

Here is the position of the law on this:

“(1)  Subject to the following provisions, every person shall be protected against the unfair termination of his employment without good cause.
(2)  The employment of a worker shall not be terminated for reasons related to his conduct or performance before he is provided an opportunity to defend himself against the allegations made except in cases where the employer cannot reasonably be expected to provide such opportunity.”
Let’s break this down. For example, if an employee is ‘caught on camera’ stealing from the employer or involved in other fraudulent activity where there is undisputed evidence, the employer can choose not to entertain a conversation with the employee. However, in a case where it is not so black and white, for example, one employee reports that another employee who is not authorized to drive a company vehicle, removed a vehicle on Friday night and returned it on Saturday morning. The offending employee should be given an opportunity to defend himself against the allegation.
Often what appears to be a termination after having heard one side of the story, turns out not to be after hearing all the sides. Where reasonable, employees must be given the opportunity to defend themselves. Not because it does not happen in your organization means that it should not happen.

Probationary period of employment:

There have been occasions during interviews when candidates would indicate that they do not know whether they are permanent or still on probation. That’s because their performance was not assessed after the six months’ probationary period and, they were not given a letter of confirmation.
Here is the position of the law on this:

“(1)  Except as otherwise provided for by any other law where there is a probationary period attached to a contract of employment the period shall not exceed six months.

(2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1) a probationary period may be extended for a further period not exceeding the duration of the original period.”
Let us break this down. An employee cannot be on probation indefinitely. An employee should be given an employment agreement which outlines the terms and conditions of the employment. The contract should state if there is a probationary period and the duration of it.

An employer who refuses to assess an employee’s performance at the end of the probationary period, automatically confirms the employee’s position.
If an employee’s probation is to be extended, an assessment must be done by the date that the initial probation expires and the employee must be informed accordingly, and of the new review date.

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