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Belize - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Belmopan

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate; very hot and humid with a rainy season (May to November) and a dry season (February to May).

 

LANGUAGES

English (official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), and Creole.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

English law

 

CURRENCY

Belizean Dollar (1 USD = 1.97000 BZD as of April 15, 2002).

 

BELIZE - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

BELIZE - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Belize City

29 Gabourel Lane

P.O. Box 286

Belize City, Belize

Telephone: [501] (2) 77161

Fax: [501] (2) 30802

Email: embbelize@state.gov

http://www.usemb-belize.gov/

 

Embassy of Belize at Washington D.C.

2535 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 332-9636

Fax: (202) 332-6888

Email:belize@as.org

http://www.embassyofbelize.org

 

BELIZE - HOLIDAYS

BELIZE – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum two weeks annual leave each year.

 

Maternity Leave: 12 weeks – 80% of pay (paid by social security).

 

BELIZE - MINIMUM AGE

The Labor Act prohibits all employment of children under age 12 and prohibits employment of children between the ages of 12 and 14, before the end of school hours on official school days. However, there is a long tradition of children's employment on family farms and in family-run businesses, which the law allows.

 

The minimum age for employment is 17 years for work near hazardous machinery.

 

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

 

BELIZE - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The minimum wage is bz$2.25 per hour (approximately $1.12), except in export industries, where it is bz$2.00 per hour (approximately $1.00). For domestic workers in private households and shop assistants in stores where liquor is not consumed, the rate is bz$1.75 per hour (approximately $0.87).

 

The minimum wage law does not cover workers paid on a piecework basis.

 

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

 

BELIZE - REMUNERATION

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

 

BELIZE - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

By law and in practice, workers generally are free to establish and join trade unions. Eight independent unions, whose members constitute approximately 11 percent of the labor force, represent a cross-section of white-collar, blue-collar, and professional workers, including most civil service employees. However, several of these unions are inactive. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Public Services, and Labor recognizes unions after they file with the Registrar's Office. The law empowers members to draft the bylaws and the constitutions of their unions, and they are free to elect officers from among the membership at large. Unions that choose not to hold elections may act as representatives for their membership, but the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB) permits only unions that hold free and annual elections of officers to join its ranks. Both law and precedent effectively protect unions against dissolution or suspension by administrative authority.

 

The law permits unions to strike and does not require them to give notice before going on strike. In August physicians in the Orange Walk district conducted a go-slow strike to protest working conditions and pay. At year's end, the dispute was submitted to an arbitration panel.

 

Although no unions are affiliated officially with political parties, several are sympathetic to one or the other of the two main parties (the PUP and the UDP).

 

Unions freely exercise the right to form federations and confederations and affiliate with international organizations.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law provides for collective bargaining and unions practice it freely throughout the country. The Trade Unions and Employers Organizations Act of 2000 became law in December of that year. Employers and unions set wages in free negotiations, or, more commonly, employers simply establish them. The Labor Commissioner or his representative acts as a mediator in deadlocked collective bargaining negotiations between labor and management, offering nonbinding counsel to both sides. Historically the Commissioner's guidance has been accepted voluntarily. However, should either union or management choose not to accept the Commissioner's decision, both are entitled to a legal hearing of the case, provided that it is linked to some provision of civil or criminal law.

 

The Constitution prohibits antiunion discrimination both before and after a union is registered. Unions may organize freely, and the Trade Unions and Employers Organizations Act requires employers to recognize unions when a critical level of membership is reached. Some employers have been known to block union organization by terminating the employment of key union sympathizers, usually on grounds purportedly unrelated to union activities. Effective redress is extremely difficult to obtain in such situations. Technically, a worker can file a complaint with the Labor Department, but in practice it is difficult to prove that a termination was due to union activity.

 

On June 7, six banana workers who had been active in union organizing activities on a southern banana farm were fired and were served with eviction notices from their company-provided housing. The six workers had worked for the company for periods ranging from 4 to 17 years. The six workers sued under the labor law and won an injunction against their removal. However, as the case awaited a full hearing, the Government deported four of the six to Honduras (see Section 1.d.). Later, the four were returned to the country at the Government's expense. Workers continue to press for recognition of their union. At year's end, all of the banana workers had found work elsewhere, but they continued to press claims in court for compensation based on their wrongful dismissal. In addition, the four deported workers were negotiating compensation from the Government for their illegal deportation, while a court case was pending.

 

The Labor Code applies in the country's export processing zones (EPZ's). There are no unions in the EPZ's, reflecting the general weakness of organized labor in the country.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution and laws forbid forced, compulsory, or bonded labor, including that performed by children, and generally it is not known to occur.

 

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

 

The Labor Act prohibits all employment of children under age 12 and prohibits employment of children between the ages of 12 and 14, before the end of school hours on official school days. However, there is a long tradition of children's employment on family farms and in family-run businesses, which the law allows. The minimum age for employment is 17 years for work near hazardous machinery. Inspectors from the Departments of Labor and Education enforce this regulation.

 

In November 2000, the NOPCA began a child labor project; it released a report in January stating that child labor exists in many forms in the Corozal district. Children work as shop assistants, gasoline attendants, and cane farmers. Other reported instances of violation of child labor laws are rare; one report that received wide exposure involved the employment of 16- to 18-year-olds in the Commercial Free Zone, an EPZ near the Mexican border, where the teenagers reportedly worked during school hours and for longer hours than allowed by law.

 

Laws prohibit forced and bonded labor by children, and in general the Government effectively enforces this prohibition.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The minimum wage is $1.12 (bz$2.25), except in export industries, where it is $1.00 (bz$2.00) per hour. For domestic workers in private households and shop assistants in stores where liquor is not consumed, the rate is $0.87 (bz$1.75) per hour. The minimum wage law does not cover workers paid on a piecework basis. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Public Services, and Labor is charged with enforcing the legal minimum wage, which generally is respected in practice. The minimum wage as sole source of income does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most salaried workers receive more than the minimum wage.

 

The law sets the normal workweek at no more than 6 days or 45 hours. It requires payment for overtime work, 13 public holidays, an annual vacation of 2 weeks, and sick leave for up to 16 days. An employee is eligible for severance pay provided that he was employed continuously for at least 5 years.

 

The exploitation of undocumented Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran workers, particularly young service workers and possibly some agricultural workers, continued to be a problem. Banana farm owners slowly continue to move the housing they provide for their workers away from the fields where poisonous pesticides are sprayed. Health clinics in the region report that the most frequently treated ailments are pesticide-related skin conditions. Company-provided housing often lacks electricity and water. The Government, the HRCB, and other concerned citizens focus on this problem; however, since turnover rates of banana workers are so high, organizing this segment of the work force is difficult.

 

On March 14, an NGO released a highly critical report that documented the banana growers' mistreatment of their largely migrant workforce. The report was prepared by the Banana Task Force of the NTUCB and the nongovernmental Society for the Promotion of Education and Research. On March 22, industry representatives held a forum in which they criticized the report as inaccurate. The Ombudsman said he would conduct his own investigation into the report's allegations, and the Labor Ministry promised more assistance to affected workers. However, at year's end, the Government had provided no additional assistance to banana workers.

 

A patchwork of health and safety regulations covers numerous industries, and the Labor Department in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Public Services, and Labor enforces these regulations to varying degrees. Enforcement is not universal, and the ministries commit their limited inspection and investigative resources principally to urban and more accessible rural areas where labor, health, and safety complaints have been registered. Workers have the legal right to remove themselves from a dangerous workplace situation without jeopardy to continued employment.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

Although the law does not specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, it does proscribe procurement for the purpose of prostitution. There were unconfirmed reports that women had been enticed to come to the country with promises of work as domestics or waitresses, but then were forced to work as prostitutes.

 

The Ministry of Human Development, Women, and Civil Society, the police department, and--in cases involving migrant children--the Ministry of Immigration investigate and attempt to remedy cases that involve trafficking in children. Unlike the previous year, there were no reports of trafficking in children for the purpose of prostitution.

 

BELIZE - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

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

 

BELIZE - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The law sets the normal workweek at no more than 6 days or 45 hours. The law also requires payment for overtime work.

 

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