By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday argued it was a “double-edged sword” for companies to give furloughed workers full severance packages, as he urged persons to remain committed to their employers.

Dion Foulkes, minister for labour and transport, did not give his full backing to revelations by John Pinder, director of labour, that he has started to recommend to some unnamed employers that they pay full severance to employees who have been on furlough for nearly 11 months.

“That's a double edged sword. There are many businesses that that have temporarily laid off their staff. If they offer redundancy packages or pay them out severance pay, their employment will be terminated," Mr Foulkes said.

"There will be no hope of them going back to work. The Ggovernment is hopeful that the persons that were laid off, for example, at Atlantis and Baha Mar and now at Sandals, the majority of those persons are coming back to work, and they're able to have gainful employment for years to come.”

However, Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) president and labour attorney, who backs full redundancy packages for furloughed workers, countered: “Yes, workers do have jobs now, but they have no income.

"If you have employment and there is no income, and you aren’t able to say within reason when you will be permitted to return to work, then what purpose is that serving? The [Employment] Act provides for reinstatement. Workers have a statutory right to be reinstated after redundancy would have taken place. The workers right now need income, and that’s what it boils down to.

“I understand what the minister is saying. I am sympathetic to that to some degree, but the point is if you aren’t earning an income, or if you have no money, then what is the purpose of having a job with no money? A job is designed to have you earn money.”

Mr Foulkes, meanwhile, added: “I understand why some persons want to be terminated, get a redundancy, get their severance pay, because the economic situation is so dire now and people have to take care of their families. I get that and the Government understands that.

“But it has to be a balance. The [COVID-19 emergency] order makes provision for redundancy not to be paid outside of 30 days after the order ends. The current order ends at the end of May, so we are not sure what’s going to happen after May, but at least until that period businesses will not be mandated to pay redundancies.”

“Certain companies are paying redundancy and terminating employees,” Mr Foulkes conceded, but he said this is not something he would advise employees to advocate for because it “terminates their employment"

The emergency orders have suspended the Employment Act's requirement that workers receive their full severance pay after being kept on furlough for 90 days or more. The suspension is effective until June 23.

Mr Ferguson, doubling down on his call for redundancy pay for workers, said “you don’t need to be a rocket scientist” to figure out that people work for money, and that a job with no money is meaningless.

He added: “If you are telling me it would take me 15 months to two years to find out if I am likely to resume my job, and I have a mortgage to make and I have school fees to pay, and I have car payments to make and I have to be able to purchase food for my family, what is the point of having a job for that period with no income? These people have no money and they are looking for ways to earn some money.”