The labor amendment bills were passed in the House of Assembly yesterday after the government further revised the proposed legislation, having adopted several recommendations from the private sector, including a provision to allow "termination of employment with notice".
"Much has been said about the Employment Amendment Bill 2017 and Industrial Relations Amendment Bill 2017, which were tabled earlier this month," said Minister of Labour Shane Gibson.
"Following calls for further dialogue by our social partners, the government demonstrated its commitment to the concept of social dialogue, as established in the ILO convention 144 and institutionalized in the National Tripartite Council (NTC) Act, by holding additional discussions and consultation with these partners, including the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, the National Congress of Trade Unions Bahamas and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Trade Union Congress."
The bills were put on hold last week Monday to allow union members and employers an opportunity to make additional recommendations for further changes to the bills, according to Gibson.
Yesterday, Gibson called the recommendations from stakeholders "excellent", and said some were agreed to and adopted in the final bills.
He said the recommendations that were not included will be revisited at a later date and further consultation with local, regional and international partners, including the NTC, will ensue.
The law, as it stands, allows employers to terminate employees without providing a reason, once they are properly compensated.
The original Employment Amendment Bill would have mandated employers considering redundancies to "undertake certain considerations" and provide notice to the minister and the respective trade union.
The bill also proposed specific requirements in order for an employer to lay off an employee or place an employee on short time.
Instead, the bill now requires "adequate consultation with the minister as well as recognized bargaining unit on lay-offs as opposed to redundancies".
Clause three of the original Employment Amendment Bill has been deleted, "which will result in reverting to the existing provisions of the principal act, thereby retaining the provisions on termination of employment with notice".
The Employment Amendment Bill provides the option of a new contract from the new employer in lieu of redundancy pay, and prioritizes redundant employees for rehire.
The government removed the provision which would force an employee to choose between redundancy pay and the gratuity or non-contributory pension, and select one which he or she prefers.
The bill now provides for the employee to be able to receive both redundancy as well as non-contributory pension or gratuity.
The bill would also now "put a time frame and specific number of 20 or more employees being made redundant, and initiate the process of consultation by employers with the government and/or the recognized bargaining agent".
A new subsection has also been added to the bill to specifically address circumstances where fewer than 20 employees are made redundant and the procedure to be followed.
Regarding the Industrial Relations Act, Gibson said much of the recommendations required more extensive consultation and the amendments were limited to the correction of clerical errors.
The Industrial Relations Amendment Bill seeks to legislate that employers meet with trade unions within 45 days of receiving an industrial agreement proposal, among other things.
However, a new provision has been added to the bill reducing the proposed 60 percent of voters as a requirement for a certificate of agency shop to be approved, to 51 percent.
"Mr. Speaker, the government made a concerted effort to ensure that the highest level of consultation took place before the passage of these critical pieces of legislation," Gibson said.
"We are committed to getting it right.
"While some of our social partners feel that these new provisions will disadvantage some of them, I am confident that in due time, all stakeholders will agree that these landmark pieces of legislation are in the best interest of working Bahamians and will have a positive impact on the Bahamian economy."

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