This gold company needs to be exposed for its employment practices

Sep 09, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I am an hourly paid employee of a well known gold company and I have two matters of concern which I believe if I should raise with the management of the company this would only cause the termination of my service with the company.
So as a result of my fears, I would like to have this address through your publication and the Ministry of Social Protection.
First, the company compels all employees to sign up for a life insurance policy and a medical insurance policy, failing to do so would disqualify you for employment. At first the life policy had a monthly premium of$1395 and the medical policy was $1400. About a month ago the company moved to increase the life coverage causing an increase in the premium to $2600 per month. Let’s be clear; all the hazards we are exposed to are work related therefore it is my view that this cost should not be placed on the workers but should be covered entirely by the company or at the least shared since the NIS is the only insurance mandated for workers and this is a shared cost with the employer as stipulated by the laws of Guyana.
Second, according to what I read in the laws of Guyana as it relates to hourly paid employees, annual vacation leave this is supposed to be calculated one day for every 160 hours of work and since we work 12 hour shifts on a two to one ratio this would see us working eight months for the year and four months off giving us a total of 2688 hours for the calendar year when this is divided by the 160 hours ratio we would be entitled to 17 days not the 12 days we currently enjoy. This is a large scale mining company who should make a greater effort to comply with the laws of this country rather than exploiting the ignorance of the average man.
I am expecting the Minister of Social Protection to look into this matter and ensure the company put steps in place to be more compliant with the laws of Guyana, also to compensate us retroactively to 2015. Also the illegal imposition of private insurance be discontinued or the cost shouldered by the company. I am looking forward for urgent governmental intervention in this matter.
Frustrated Employee

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