Georgetown : Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon said that Government will move forward with the implementation of its new national minimum wage and 40-hour work week initiative, convinced of its morality of its position in recognition that this is a move welcomed by employees.
, Dr Luncheon speaking at his weekly press briefing was questioned about Government’s view on the new initiative in light of some employees’ reaction to its proposed implementation.
One sited was the RK’s Security Services which announced its decision to terminate all its contracts with Government starting July 13, with the rest being terminated on July 15 on the grounds that the new minimum wage had made it impossible to operate the contracts. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Roshan Khan has stated that raising the minimum wage allows for low profit margin for the company under Government contracts.
Dr. Luncheon said that Cabinet has been briefed about its minimum wage initiative, and indeed has dealt with, more recently, some of these consequences particularly those raised by employers in the security and manufacturing sectors.
He said that, the 40-hour week for employers have evoked some objections in the past, and that efforts have been made by the Minister and Ministry of Labour at the level of the tripartite committee to resolve those differences and allow the order establishing the minimum wage to continue to be enforced. He said the administration intends to continue to seek that outcome of the minimum wage initiative being statutorily implemented across the board.
“There is absolutely nothing to prevent companies from resorting to provisions in their contract to withdraw as R. Khan to prevent them from implementing a contract from which they have such great problems,” he said.
He said should Khan follow through with his proposal to terminate government contracts, Government will just go back out to tender for these contracts.
