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Overtime gone missing
(Kaieteur News) Dem boys seh dem looking fuh something that disappear without anybody calling de police. Time-and-a-half. And Sunday double pay.
Dem boys seh dem remember when people used to talk about overtime like it was something serious. You work past your regular hours; you get extra money. You work Sunday, depending on the category of worker, you get higher pay. Simple.
But these days, dem boys seh, overtime looking like one of dem missing persons cases. The law still got provisions for overtime pay. The law says workers are entitled to at least time-and-a-half for overtime and Sunday work, while factory workers are entitled to double time on Sundays and certain public holidays.
So dem boys asking: Who collecting it?
Because plenty people working 10, 11 and 12 hours like dem applying fuh become permanent resident inside the workplace. Twelve-hour shift! Dem boys seh some workers seeing the office more than dem seeing dem own house.
And what about the migrant workers? How much of dem know what the law says? How many know that working extra hours may entitle dem to extra pay? And how many employers making sure they get it?
Dem boys seh this is where things does get interesting. Because some employers in the private sector got a special understanding of overtime. The worker does work overtime. The boss does call it “good business.” The worker does call it “hard work.” The payroll department does call it “regular hours.” Everybody got a name for it except overtime pay.
Dem boys seh some companies could mek a worker work so long that by the time he reach home, he does have to introduce himself to his family again. And Sunday? Some employers apparently believe Sunday is just Saturday wearing different clothes.
But if the law says workers are entitled to overtime payment, then the question is not whether employers feel like paying it. The question is whether they are paying it.
So dem boys got a modest suggestion for the Ministry of Labour: check the time sheets. Check the payroll. Talk to the workers—not only the employers. Because if the law says time-and-a-half, workers should not have to settle for time-and-nothing.
And if dem boys discover that 12 hours of work is being paid as eight, dem boys got one question: Where the other four hours gone? Dem boys seh maybe overtime did not disappear after all.
Maybe somebody just pocket it.
Talk half. Leff half.
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