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Antigua and Barbuda - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Saint John's

 

CLIMATE

Very little variation in the seasonal temperature - tropical marine climate.

 

LANGUAGES

English (official) and local dialects.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Based on English common law.

 

CURRENCY

East Caribbean Dollars (1 USD = 2.6700 XCD as of June 1, 2002)

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

The United States does not have an embassy in Antigua and Barbuda (the embassy closed June 30, 1994). The U.S. Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda.

 

U.S. Embassy at Bridgetown (Barbados)

The American Life Insurance Co. (ALICO) Building

P.O. Box 302

Bridgetown, Barbados

West Indies

Telephone: [246] 436-4950

Fax: [246] 429-5246

http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/bb1/wwwhmain.html

 

Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda at Washington D.C.

3216 New Mexico Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20016

Telephone: (202) 362-5122

Fax: (202) 362-5225

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - HOLIDAYS

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum 12 days of annual leave.

 

Maternity Leave: 6 – 13 weeks – 100% of pay for first six weeks (paid by employer 40% and social security 60%). Seven additional weeks (total 13 weeks) may be taken at 60% of pay (paid by social security).

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - MINIMUM AGE

The law stipulates a minimum working age of 16 years, which corresponds with the provisions of the Education Act.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Antigua and Barbuda – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

Minimum wage rates, which were established by law for various work categories in 1981, have never been revised and generally are viewed as irrelevant to existing economic conditions. The Ministry of Labor periodically surveys average wages paid in various sectors and issues these as guidelines to prevailing market wages. The guidelines are not compulsory. The Ministry provides them to reflect increasing wage expectations, and to offset not having yet updated the 1981 minimum wage rates. In 1999 the guidelines indicated that employers pay an average salary of EC$250 per week ($93.63), although the range of actual salaries varies widely, depending on skill level and experience.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Antigua and Barbuda – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Workers have the right to associate freely and to form labor unions. Approximately 75 percent of workers belong to a union, and the hotel industry is heavily unionized. There are two major trade unions: The Antigua Trades and Labour Union (ATLU) and the Antigua Workers' Union (AWU). The ATLU is associated with the ruling ALP, while the larger and more active AWU is allied rather loosely with the opposition.

 

The Labor Code recognizes the right to strike, but the Industrial Relations Court may limit this right in a given dispute. Workers who provide essential services (including bus, telephone, port, and petroleum workers, in addition to health and safety workers) must give 21 days' notice of intent to strike. Once either party to a dispute requests that the court mediate, there can be no strike. Because of the delays associated with this process, unions often resolve labor disputes before a strike is called. There were no significant strikes during the year.

 

Unions are free to affiliate with international labor organizations, and they do so in practice.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Labor organizations are free to organize and bargain collectively. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination, and there were no reports that it occurred. Employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination are not required to rehire employees fired for union activities but must pay full severance pay and full wages lost by the employee from the time of firing until the determination of employer fault. There are no areas of the country where union organization or collective bargaining is discouraged or impeded.

 

There are no export processing zones, but there are free trade zones that facilitate services such as international banking and gambling. The Labor Code applies equally to workers in these zones as elsewhere in the country.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution forbids slavery and forced labor, including that by children, and they do not exist in practice.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The law stipulates a minimum working age of 16 years, which corresponds with the provisions of the Education Act. The Ministry of Labor, which is required by law to conduct periodic inspections of workplaces, effectively enforces this law. The Labor Commissioner's Office also has an Inspectorate that investigates exploitative child labor matters. There were no reports of minimum age employment violations during the year. The Government has not ratified the International Labor Organization's Convention 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor. The law prohibits forced or bonded child labor, and it does not exist in practice (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

Minimum wage rates, which were established by law for various work categories in 1981, have never been revised and generally are viewed as irrelevant to existing economic conditions. The Ministry of Labor periodically surveys average wages paid in various sectors and issues these as guidelines to prevailing market wages. The guidelines are not compulsory. The Ministry provides them to reflect increasing wage expectations, and to offset not having yet updated the 1981 minimum wage rates. In 1999 the guidelines indicated that employers pay an average salary of $93.63 (EC$250) per week, although the range of actual salaries varies widely, depending on skill level and experience. The existing published minimum wages for a variety of jobs would not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, and in practice the great majority of workers earn substantially more than the minimum wage.

 

The law provides that workers are not required to work more than a 48-hour, 6-day workweek, but in practice the standard workweek is 40 hours in 5 days. The law stipulates that workers receive a minimum of 12 days of annual leave. The law requires employers to provide maternity leave with 40 percent of wages for 6 weeks of leave, while social service programs provide the remaining 60 percent of wages. The employer's obligation ends after the first 6 weeks, but social services continue to pay 60 percent of wages for an additional 7 weeks, for a total of 13 weeks.

 

The Government has not yet developed occupational health and safety laws or regulations, but a section of the Labor Code includes some provisions regarding occupational safety and health. Plans to incorporate comprehensive legislation on safety, health, and the welfare of workers into the existing Labor Code have not been implemented. Although not specifically provided for by law, workers may leave a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

There are no laws that specifically address trafficking in persons. There were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country during the year.

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law provides that workers are not required to work more than a 48-hour, 6-day workweek, but in practice the standard workweek is 40 hours in 5 days.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Antigua and Barbuda – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)