Under this Barbados Labour and Employment Environment Overview, you will find a catalogue of information related to labour laws and legislation, recruitment, immigration, trade unionism, health and safety in the workplace, the Barbados national insurance scheme and much more.
Barbados' high standard of education has produced an easily trained workforce, with an adequate supply of professional as well as skilled and unskilled labour. The labour force is estimated at 145,100. The most recent unemployment data for 2005 indicates an unemployment rate of 9.8%. The working hours for office personnel vary between 35 to 40 hours, while a 40 hour week is normal for manual workers. Work undertaken in excess of the basic work week and during public holidays normally attracts premium rates of pay.
Several pieces of legislation are in place to govern labour relations including the Severance Payments Act and the Holidays With Pay Act. The National Insurance and Social Security Act provide medical assistance for employees in the event of illness, maternity leave and accidents. They also provide unemployment, disability and pension benefits.
The labour movement is represented by four major unions. There have been few work stoppages in recent years, primarily due to the existence of good labour relations.
Barbados has twelve paid public holidays. In addition, all workers have a statutory right to twelve weeks of maternity leave and three weeks of annual vacation with pay, which increases to four weeks after the fifth year of steady employment.
Look for new Barbados Labour and Employment pages in the coming weeks.
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