Industrial Court president: Labour laws are for everyone

President of the Industrial Court Deborah Thomas-Felix feels there is a need for the public to better understand labour laws. She is encouraging everyone, regardless of their background and social standing, to read her new book to understand their rights and protections.

Thomas-Felix has served as the court's president since 2011 and was appointed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to sit on their administrative tribunal last March.

Speaking with Newsday at the launch of her book Labour Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean, at the Industrial Court, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain on Thursday, Thomas-Felix said while the book would be useful for industrial relations students, it also contained useful information for employers and workers.

She said the book was not meant to serve solely as an academic resource, but was made to highlight the importance of good industrial relations practices.

"I want everyone to have a broad understanding of the underpinnings and what happens in terms of applying good industrial relations and labour standards.

"If we have good practices in our workplace then workers will be less stressed, employers will now be able to take advantage because there is benefit if your human resource is performing well so it (the book) is for everyone.

"We have a lot of medium and small business enterprises, most of them don't understand how to dismiss someone, how to employ someone and what the laws are in relation to that. I believe most of them want to do the right thing, but because they don't know, they don't do the right thing, so hopefully it will be a good guide for them."

Director of the Cipriani Labour College Dr Andre Vincent Henry also attended the launch and said he felt the book was an important tool for employers in understanding the needs of the workplace in a post-pandemic world.

He also urged the public to make the effort to read the book and better understand labour laws and how proper employment policies.

"The workplace is changing rapidly in terms of the norms and the policies that govern employment and employment relations are not taking place and we run the risk that if we don't have good adjudication and fair and just systems not only will workers be disadvantaged we will also start to see that going into a breakdown in society."

The book covers topics including labour-supply contracts, fixed-term contracts, layoffs, retrenchment and dismissal or termination.

Information on how to buy a copy of the book is online at trendsinlabourlaw.com.