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St Vincent & the Grenadines - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Kingstown

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate with little seasonal temperature variation and a rainy season from May to November.

 

LANGUAGES

English, and French patois.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ legal system is based on English common law.

 

CURRENCY

East Caribbean Dollar (1 USD = 2.67000 XCD as of May 15, 2002).

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

The United States does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The U.S. Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

 

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 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at Washington D.C.

3216 New Mexico Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20016

Telephone: (202) 364-6730

Fax: (202) 364-6736

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - HOLIDAYS

 

ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum two weeks paid vacation each year.

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - MINIMUM AGE

The law sets the minimum working age at 16 years of age, although a worker must be 18 years of age to receive a national insurance card.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The law sets minimum wages, which were last promulgated in 1989. The wages vary by sector and type of work and are specified for several skilled categories, including attendants, packers, cleaners, porters, watchmen, and clerks. In agriculture the wage for workers provided shelter is EC$18 per day (approximately $6.74); industrial workers earn EC$20 per day ($7.49).

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

ST VINCENT - REMUNERATION

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

 

ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES – REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution provides citizens the right to form unions and to organize employees; however, employers often ignore the constitutional provisions that provide for union rights and claim that they have a constitutional right not to recognize a trade union. Nonetheless, some employers seek a good industrial relations environment and cooperate with trade unions. The Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Act allows the right to strike; however, there were no major strikes during the year.

 

Unions have the right to affiliate with international bodies, and they do so in practice.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

There are no legal obstacles to organizing unions; however, no law requires employers to recognize a particular union as an exclusive bargaining agent. Some companies offer packages of benefits with terms of employment better than, or comparable to, what a union normally can obtain through negotiations. The law prohibits antiunion discrimination by employers. Generally effective mechanisms exist for resolving complaints. The authorities may order employers found guilty of antiunion discrimination for firing workers without cause (including for participation in union activities) to reinstate the workers or give them severance pay.

 

According to press reports during the year, workers at the retail outlet Voyager were refused union recognition. The union could not take the company to court, because there are no laws that make nonrecognition of a union an offense. The Labor Commissioner was forced to intervene, but several disputes in court arose from peripheral matters. The Protection of Employment Act provides for compensation and worker rights, but these are restricted to protection from summary dismissal without compensation and reinstatement or severance pay if unfairly dismissed. A draft Labor Industrial Relations Act under debate includes a proposal for recognition of trade unions.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Government prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and it is not known to occur. The Government does not prohibit specifically forced or bonded labor by children, but there were no reports that it occurred.

 

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

 

The law sets the minimum working age at 16 years of age, although a worker must be 18 years of age to receive a national insurance card. The Ministry of Labor monitors and enforces this provision, and employers generally respect it in practice. The Labor Inspectorate at the Department of Labor receives, investigates, and addresses child labor complaints. Labor officers in this unit conduct general inspections of work places annually. The age of leaving school at the primary level is 15 years; when these pupils leave school, they usually are absorbed into the labor market disguised as apprentices. There is no known child labor except for children working on family-owned banana plantations, particularly during harvest time, or in family-owned cottage industries. The Government has partnered with the nongovernmental sector, including UNICEF, in an antipoverty strategy aimed at improving economic opportunities for youth. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), Parliament has ratified ILO Convention 182 on elimination of the worst forms of child labor, but the Government had not deposited the formal ratification at year's end. The law does not prohibit specifically forced or bonded labor by children, but there were no reports that it occurred during the year (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The law sets minimum wages, which were last promulgated in 1989. They vary by sector and type of work and are specified for several skilled categories, including attendants, packers, cleaners, porters, watchmen, and clerks. In agriculture the wage for workers provided shelter is $6.74 (EC$18) per day; industrial workers earn $7.49 (EC$20) per day. In many sectors, the minimum wage is not sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family, but most workers earn more than the minimum. The Wages Council, according to law, should meet every 2 years to review the minimum wage, but it had not met since 1989. A new Wages Council was appointed in March following the elections; it met and made recommendations that were submitted to the Government, which still was considering them at year's end.

 

There is no legislation concerning the length of the workweek; however, the general practice is to work 40 hours in 5 days. The law provides workers a minimum annual vacation of 2 weeks.

 

According to the Ministry of Labor, legislation concerning occupational safety and health is outdated. The most recent legislation, the Factories Act of 1955, has some regulations concerning factories, but enforcement of these regulations is ineffective. Workers enjoy a reasonably safe working environment; however, the trade unions addressed some violations relating to safety gear, long overtime hours, and the safety of machinery. There were some reports of significant visual impairment by visual display unit workers, and some reports of hearing impairment by power station and stone crushing employees. The law does not address specifically whether workers have the right to remove themselves from work situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their continued employment, but it stipulates conditions under which plants must be maintained. Failure to do so would constitute a breach, which might cover a worker who refuses to work under these conditions.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

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

 

ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES- STANDARD WORKWEEK

There is no legislation concerning the length of the workweek; however, the general practice is to work 40 hours in 5 days.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.