Hotelier wants protection from redundancy laws

A leading player in the local tourism industry has called for a temporary suspension in the law that forces employers to make a position redundant if a worker has been laid off for more than 120 days.

Glenn Lawrence, Couples Resorts chief executive officer, during a digital media briefing held by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett to provide an update on the sector, said that hotels will be hard-pressed to call back workers if occupancy levels are low when the sector reopens.

"It is likely that the hotels, that most of us will be in the 20s, 30s, maybe 40s (occupancy rate) when we open, and it will meander for sometime before we can speak about getting full occupancy," Lawrence said.

"If we open up and there is minimal occupancy, then there is minimal staffing, and it is likely that it is going to push the 120 days right to the limit ... It will probably need a suspension of that provision in the law because of the unique circumstances that the COVID issue has brought," he added.

Under the Employment Termination and Redundancy Act, persons can be laid off for up to 120 days. After the time has expired, workers can trigger a clause which forces the employers to make their position redundant and pay them for their years of service, in accordance with the law.

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The tourism minister, responding to Lawrence, suggested that the provision may be altered to deal with the unique situation brought on by the pandemic.

"I totally agree and we have been in consultations and discussions, and I am sure a formula will be arrived at that will be mutually beneficial," Bartlett said.

Some 170,000 persons are directly employed to the tourism sector and another 150,000 depend on the sector, indirectly, for their incomes. All have been without jobs since hotels were closed in March after Jamaica recorded its first COVID-19 case.

"I have no choice but to push against all odds, thousands of Jamaicans are depending on me," Bartlett said, adding that for economic recovery to happen, tourism must recover. The minister said that there is "pent-up demand" for Jamaica's tourism product as many of the people who booked vacations have not cancelled.

Bartlett, while admitting that the push to reopen the sector is ambitious, said the Tourism Response Task Force is mindful that travellers are desirous of a safe and healthy destination. He said that protocols, which will withstand local and international scrutiny, are being formulated to guide the reopening of the sector.

He said Jamaica's tourism product is being positioned as COVID-resilient to ensure "the best experience, the safest and most desirable vacation they would ever want".