Adrian Loveridge
I can only recall three or four Christmas’s in the last fifty years being involved in tourism that I have not actually been working over the festive period. It goes with the job and around this time those who are not meaningfully employed in the industry should spare a thought for all the persons that cannot celebrate, what in many cases is special family time.
As a tour operator in the United Kingdom for over a decade, Christmas and New Year were always very busy times for us and the choice of hotel and location were critical factors in the holidays being successful or not. As most of our clients were British, we learnt very early in our business that you should never try and replicate a ‘typical’ Christmas overseas. Paris was always our best selling destination and over a particular Christmas we chose one out of several hotels that our company used in the French capital, a property in a lovely suburb to the west of the city at Bougival. The owner was a big tennis fan and personal friend of the famous Ivan Lendl, so he named this singular hotel and several others after the world renowned club located in California at Forest Hills.
A few weeks before the arrival of the group, we sat down with the hotel’s General Manager and Head Chef to discuss a suitable menu for Christmas day. The French probably eat as much turkey as the Brits do, so there was not a problem there. Shrimp cocktail as a starter seemed an impartial choice and then we came to dessert. We suggested Christmas pudding and immediately the clearly quizzically chef stated ‘qu’ est ce que (what is) Christmas pudding?’ After spending what seemed like an eternity trying to explain the contents and appearance, we finally gave up and instead suggested that we purchase in the UK and transport a few suitable puddings to the hotel with another group the week before, which we bought from the highly respected Marks and Spencer.
The starter and main course soon were served and quickly devoured, lubricated by excellent French wines. Then, in came the dessert which was amazingly served to almost everyone at once. The resulting sound was almost overwhelming and the Head Chef literally ran out from the kitchen to see exactly what was going on. It was stone cold and I will always remember the chef’s response, ‘well you didn’t tell us that you had to cook them’. Of course, he was right, we had not told them.
Fortunately, everyone present took it in good heart, perhaps helped by the flowing wine and it became the talking point of the day, repeating it time-after-time as if it was a scene out of the famous, but sadly short lived television series, Fawlty Towers.
We never made the same mistake again and went on to build what many still regard as one of the best English small tour operators of modern history.
If, while reading this column, you are working, sustaining our tourism industry over the peak and economically critical holiday season, thank you for your sacrifice. We all indeed owe you our debt of gratitude.
…..’If, while reading this column, you are working, sustaining our tourism industry over the peak and economically critical holiday season, thank you for your sacrifice. We all indeed owe you our debt of gratitude.”…..
Do you rally mean that?…I don’t accept , receive or believe that……except for the debt… why?
Those workers who are the engines of productivity, that strive to be the real ambassadors to the clients of the hotel , who are really YOUR guests are being exploited in numerous ways by you the hotelier that smiles all the way to the bank and really thinks little of and about your staff.
Many of those employees LABOUR for as little as $50. per day, some/most @ $10. per day, that is $5 USD per day.
The minimum wage in the USA is $7. per day yet all your rates and prices are quoted in $USD.
Some of you hotel employers demand a SERVICE CHARGE of clients while others give an INCENTIVE that “replaces” the service charge. In the case of the service charge (10% of every transaction).
How much percentage is given to the employees?
In the case of the INCENTIVE, which is $100. per week or less, Why is it that you use burden the staff with rules, regulations and codes and at the frivolousness of any breach you penalize the employee by deducting from the said service charge or incentive.
WHAT ABOUT THE PRODUCTIVITY BONUS so highly promoted? Is it not relevant?
STOP UNDERPAYING AND EXPLOITING HOTEL WORKERS and give them their just dues so that they can be happy and proud too for propping up this “Industry” that you value so much.
Christmas means the world to the Bajan, yet you demand his services during these holidays, some of you employers use tact in allowing the worker half day work so that he retains only a full normal day’s work and deny him the full benefit of working 8 hrs. for double pay for a bank holiday, Is this how you value you employee? How many of you employers offered a Bonus to your employees and if you did was it a one that would have made the employee’s holiday a better one? $25 dollars is $12 USD. for a years contribution?
YES,….. Hotel workers do SACRIFICE, stoop and poop at the pressure they encounter daily on their jobs, YOU would have to be in it to know it.
YES, …. YOU the hotel industry and employers OWE the hotel employees MORE than a debt of gratitude,
YOU OWE THEM CONSIDERATION,FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE for their “valued” contribution, for without them you cannot run to the bank smiling and its about time that the conspiracy to keep the LABOUR UNIONS at the door CHANGE and allow them to represent and defend the RIGHTS of the employee according to the CONSTITUTION AND LAWS of this land.
YOU THE HOTELIER IS INDEED INDEBTED TO YOUR EMPLOYEES bigtime.
To YOU the Employee KNOW and STAND for YOUR RIGHTS EVERYTIME!.
.
You have to play the game your in . Just like poker if you are playing for nickels you play the same as if you are playing for dollars. So dont compare Monaco, Swiss, US wages it means nothing. Compare supply and demand of where your at. Fire ,police,hospitals airport etc work right through Christmas as well and are deserving of thanks.
nineofnine
is confused. The federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per HOUR. You seem to have trouble distinguishing rates per hour and rates per day.
Of course, the cost of labour is only one of several inputs used to earn hotel revenues.
the CONSTITUTION STATES.. as per forced labour…
(c) any labour required of a member of a disciplined force in pursuance of his duties as such or, in the case of a person who has conscientious objections to service as a member of a naval, military or air force, any labour that that person is required by law to perform in place of such service;
Is the hotel worker a disciplined force?….NO!
…”So dont compare Monaco, Swiss, US wages it means nothing.”…
really?.. Quotes/rates are in US dollars, that’s double bajan, then DOUBLE bajan wages…
we don’t take thanks/ IOUs to the supermarket/bank.
Is the Hotelier more important than the employee who makes the hotelier and the industry?.. I say NO, ……NO LINK in the chain should be unconsidered and deprived.
THIS IS NOT A GAME.
How would YOU feel to take home $200/300 a week after hard labour knowing that the bossman can eat everynight in a restaurant with his family with a bill at $400 per meal?
I do not know what “hotel workers” are paid around the world.
According to the Internet (oyster.ca), the average monthly pay of a recently hired hotel maid is approximately US$125 in Cambodia, US$ 221 in Thailand, US$ 365 in Brazil, US$ 650 in Costa Rica and US$ 1,815 in the United States.
it doesnt matter how you feel it is what it is, dont like it quit there are a lot of people happy for that job and willing to work for the going rate in that country and job. You are trying to some how analogize this with what came first the chicken or the egg,but I am more of a field of dreams guy….if you build it they will come… so yes the hoteliers are more important. Long before your described wretches even serve there first meal tradesmen ,of all walks have built and been paid by the hotelier to get this up and running.marketers, realestate people lawyers insurers all grab a piece of the action so if you want sympathy look in the dictionary it is between shit and syphilis.
@ Lawson
With your pragmatic attitude, Bushie is somewhat surprised that you are not at the ‘Bill Gates’ level of wealth…
You display consummate albino-centric instincts…
Lots of fish in the sea to be exploited. If the flying fish don’t take the bait, the dolphins will.
This attitude actually pays ‘dividends’ under the current world system…on the surface at least.
This view expressed by nineofnine is community-centric. He seeks to treat people with HUMANITY, and as equals – deserving similar considerations that we give to ourselves.
LOL
That must be like a foreign languor to you nuh??!!
True it sounds like ebonics to me , everybody figures the people that gamble their life savings , are under the most stress ( you cant just go home and forget about it if you are the owner ) and tell others how it must be done to keep standards up ( we didnt know we had to cook it) doesnt deserve a larger cut of the pie. You guys have been watching too much hollywood, NFL or baseball in the real world the tail doesnt wag the dog.,
@ lawson
in the real world the tail doesnt wag the dog.,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boss …in the CURRENT real world, the Chinese cooks the dog.
You need to get out a bit more though. Questions are raised out there about the source of your vaunted ‘life savings’- much of which would have passed down from generations of nefarious exploitation, based solely on power.
Perhaps it is not so much the tail wagging the dog, as putting the cart in front of the horse….
If the chef had a vested interest in the business- based on his inputs over the years, he would be much less inclined to ‘go home and forget it’.
Do you think that if the ‘owner’ was more broadly defined by the variety of critical inputs into the success of the business, that the whole staff (and perhaps some customers and suppliers too) would feel much less like they are ‘gambling with their savings’…?
Just asking Boss … you may not even speak this language…
🙂
More of the comments on this blog should be fact-based, rather than personal opinions.
According to semi-reliable research reports available on the Internet, the Caribbean hotel industry occasionally matches the average profit rates typically reported by US resort hotels (20%). Most hotels in the Caribbean are burdened by high energy costs but pay lower wages and taxes than their US counterparts.
@ chad99999
correction…per hour not day, not confused nor have any trouble to distinguish.
@Lawson
Let the workers down tools and see who suffer the greater loss, also the ‘other players”, can you really compare remunerations, all expend ENERGY, SINCE WHEN IS THERE A TARRIF ON ENERGY?
9 of 9 you are saying what i said the owner has most to risk, thank god in the sevice industry filling a step and fetch job applicant is easy but you must admit it is more than money and accolades that may keep people working there conditions also play a part free meals health care etc.
True bushy life savings have been passed down, are you saying your laptop is new
Actually, Caribbean hotels also pay higher costs than their US counterparts for insurance (Jamaica and Trinidad?) And supplies ( imported meats and vegetables?).
@Chad99999
……………”According to the Internet (oyster.ca), the average monthly pay of a recently hired hotel maid is approximately US$125 in Cambodia, US$ 221 in Thailand, US$ 365 in Brazil, US$ 650 in Costa Rica and US$ 1,815 in the United States”…………….
Where in BARBADOS are Hoteliers paying maids $3630.00 per month? (yea, average monthly pay as per oyster.ca)…. even by this comparison we see how the “LEAST CONSIDERED WORKERS” are being robbed.
On another note of stealth by employers/exploiters as per monthly salaries.
52 weeks in a year……/12 months…./365 days
paid 12 months in a year (5day wk x 4 wks x 12 months) …240 days
weekends…(2 days x 4 weeks x 12 months)…..96 days
365-240-96=29 days
Here we see that the average monthly worker works a full year but is CHEATED of 29 working days. Monthly paid dates are usually fixed or fluctuates around that date (24/25th)….Be it as it is, then a bonus must be paid at the end of the year to accommodate these 29 days. It must be mandated as law or declare that there is really thirteen months in the year.
my point exactly…. per person Bds $100, x2….$200… x4(family) $400 bds.
one meal = a weeks pay of the hotel worker
http://www.re-discover.com/
If a worker is being paid per hour then “it does not matter” if he/she is paid monthly or weekly as the paycheck should reflect the number of hours or days the person worked.
The 29 missing days is cause by the fact that you are using a strict 4 weeks per month or 48 weeks per year or 336 days. However during the actual year the worker will be paid for 30, 31, or 28 days. Those 29 days do not “disappear” would be included included in the weekly/monthly paychecks.
I agree with your other comments.
9 of 9
You are assuming the average maid in Barbados is as productive as the average maid in the United States. Probably not true.
Why should hotels pay US wages?
@Anonymouse – TheGazer
…..”However during the actual year the worker will be paid for 30, 31, or 28 days.”…
This statement is false and misleading…
At anytime do your pay cheque reflect that ? It is usually the same every month other than having a few cents difference …Contracts do stipulate that payment/salaries are paid for every 20 working days as per monthly workers.. At a previous place of employment, they paid the extra 29 days as a Christmas bonus or a doubling of salary until they started to reduce it over time, this is an exceptional upscale establishment. Was it a Christmas bonus or was it facilitating the hidden loss for work done those 29 days?
@chad9999
I try not to assume, my submissions are from “on the ground experience”, Maids work dam hard. HAVING TO CLEAN 10 rooms a day plus dealing with departures for arrivals in limited time is not easy…try it,…
What’s difference is in work done in USA to that done in BARBADOS?.. both require the same detailing…never said that they should be paid in US$, WHAT I DO is convert $$$ for the layman for comparison, that’s like saying why should a hotelier quote prices in USA$ around the world?….
Then you are not talking about an hourly or daily worker. Usually the contract says you are pay $720.00 per annum and you are given 60 dollars per month if paid monthly. If you are paid biweekly, then you would be paid 720/26 = 27.70 dollars every two weeks. As an example some companies would specif the first Tuesday and 3rd Tuesday of the month.
The formula you describe treats it as if they were 28 days in every month, the extra 29 or 30 days are for days 29, 30, and 31 of each month. A good PR stunt, but they are just giving you your money and not a bonus.
Some company do give a bonus, but you can also be creative and make yourself look good.
A class action lawsuit will remedy a lot of these fraudulent behaviors of these employers.
what is needed is a change of perspective. Potential employees will shift harsh employers or give less than adequate contribution of work, while on the other hand those employers who reward justly for work done will find stiff competition among potential employees for jobs knowing that they must maintain high standards and competency in order to keep that employment, I have seen below par standards both from employers and employees where there was exploitation of employees and abuse of their rights and the greed from employers who seek to maintain their extravagant lifestyles.
Nice sounding Mission Statements, Visions and Company Messages are just cloaked advertising but behind the scene is quite a difference story.
CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE and the world.
I would suggest you buy one of the many hotels for sale, and institute a fair wage policy as you have laid out to show hoteliers exactly how they should operate. It could become a model for the industry.
nineofnine December 26, 2016 at 8:08 AM #
“Christmas means the world to the Bajan, yet you demand his services during these holidays, some of you employers use tact in allowing the worker half day work so that he retains only a full normal day’s work and deny him the full benefit of working 8 hrs. for double pay for a bank holiday, Is this how you value your employee?”
@ nineofnine
From what source did you access your information? Would you care to share, with BU, the names of these hotels that are engaging in the activities as described in your above comments?
When I worked in the hotel industry, wages and service charge rates were negotiated by the BWU and BHTA, and paid according to the class/grade of the hotel. Hotels are characterized by grades such as 5 diamond, 5 star, luxury, Grade A or Grade B. Therefore, a maid working at a 5 diamond hotel will receive a much higher rate per hour than a maid working at a Grade B hotel.
Service charge is calculated, after a 2% deduction for breakage, and distributed to employees according to their “service charge points,” and the class of hotel. The “upscale” hotels’ “service charge points” were determined and allocated according to departments. For example, housekeeping may receive 5 points; front office – 6; Accounts – 7, etc.
SC may vary between $20 and could go as high as $75 or even $100, depending on the occupancy levels. So, if in a particular week SC payable was $35, an employee with 7 points would receive $245.
Some lower grade hotels, for example, may pay a service charge of $75, but the “points” may be as low as 2, so that employee would receive $150.
An employee continues to receive SC if he/she is on vacation or sick leave.
During the Christmas season and Old Years night, occupancy levels are usually high and there is a corresponding increase in service, hence an increase in SC payable. Any hotel employee would tell you they love to work during the Christmas season and old year’s night, because of overtime and increased SC.
If what you wrote in your contribution is true, then the industry has made some significant negative changes. However, I’m hearing a completely different story from the numerous hotel employees I know, which suggests your information may be erroneous and perhaps based on your personal opinion.
@ Artax
MY EXPERIENCE as at present is that the establishment pays no service charge but an INCENTIVE which is $100 per week, from that $100. deductions are made for the any breach of their rules and regulations… as per example, late arrivals beyond 5 minutes is a deduction $10 more than twice is even a bigger deduction, if you are sick that’s a $35 deduction bearing in mind that you have to be employed for one full year to be entitled for paid sick days, that means if you have a prolong sickness given that you are allowed 2 days before submitting a sick certificate means that no less than $75 is deducted also deductions are made if the employer determines that not enough team effort is being made…among other things that can cause other deductions. By any determination of management the whole incentive can be forfeited.
Even as you have signed a contract, you are not seen as an employee with any real benefits within a years time.
…..”I’m hearing a completely different story from the numerous hotel employees I know, which suggests your information may be erroneous and perhaps based on your personal opinion.”…. well ANTAX, This is the situation on the ground, its not erroneous nor of personal opinion, again this establishment pays an incentive and not service charge.
@ nineofnine
The terms and conditions of employment you described in your contribution are not widespread in the hotel sector and may be specific to your establishment. It also suggests your employer is not adhering to Barbados’ Labour Laws or the guidelines on employment protocol set by the BWU and BHTA, as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The rules and guidelines in the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Staff’s Handbook [SH] form part of the terms and conditions of employment.
Unfortunately, there is not any definitive law relative to sick leave. In the hotel sector, an employee was/is entitled to six (6) days, which are to be taken in “four (4) occasions.” Employees took advantage of this rule by taking sick days in the order of 2, 2, 1, 1, which equals to 4 occasions. On the other hand, if an employee took sick days in the order of 1, 1, 1 and 2, he/she would have used up the 4 occasions, even though 1 sick day of the 6 remains.
It boggles my mind how, in 2016, people prefer to suffer in silence and complain to everyone except the employer.
Rather than uniting to join either Unity Workers’ Union or BWU to represent them in an effort to improve working conditions, they continue to work under those conditions.
You also have the option of seeking representation from government’s Labour Department.
Your employer is WICKED and basically “making up their own rules” to EXPLOIT docile employees.
@Artax….
Joining any workers union is totally discourage and one can lose their job if discovered… Yes they make up their own rules as they go along , for instance you cannot wear belts with big buckles or you can’t wear any cologne if they deem it repugnant.
Labour is labour, government allows 21 days and the private sector 6 …why? where is the equality of policy? the quest for the dollar is greater than government, yes in 2016, labour laws are still at this juncture and shows the lapse of determination to put policy on even keel, even so many are hand to mouth and will look the other way for pittance and blood money.
When an employer who has travelled all avenues of leadership, and would have gained the knowledge to make it better in every aspect of the industry would at this juncture seek only personal interests. It is amazing the amount of cameras that at placed strategically to watch the employees’ every move including the entrance to bathrooms.
Much emphasis is placed on health inspections by the management, yet pertinent concerns are camouflage or sidelined yet the threat remains hidden. Persons of interests should seek out the not so travelled routes and avenues as such the magnitude of conditions will be most shocking and do so at the least expected times with a large investigative team.
As a person on the ground, my experience of terms and conditions in this industry to me seem to have redressed some 40 years, Face lifts are not face value, patched solutions are not remedies, alterations do not define necessity, security is only uniformed for the items, clientele bask only in colour and quantity but not quality et al…. formerly the plants held a greater responsibility for the environment, staff and the client, today none of the above seem really relevant except the pursuit of the dollar and how much can be hoarded one way and the least directed to the other. For me it is not about the dollar but about enhancing the situations and conditions.
Workers are not that docile, in fact they are abreast of every situation, the narrative dictates that …..”things tight”, ….”hold on to what you got” ….”teck wha ya ca get”… and with their personal responsibilities weighing heavily on their minds, would prefer to see it through.
daunting as that would seem.
We have a labour minister that seem only to be concern of globalism, that lacks the ability to delve into the cracks and crevices and establish meaningful redresses and refers/direct disputs to the PM.
UNIONS would seek to address issues but affiliated leaders are towing the line, then how can there be any forward progression?
TRIPARTISAN POLITICS should be on the frontline for betterment of all sides, yet it seems that it is only a machine for secular agendas for private sector.
Why is it that disputes cannot find a reasonable solution unless the PM (post mortem) is initiated?
WE HAVE CAME A LONG WAY TO BE NOWHERE….but here, now.
Artax, you are living in the dark ages – since when does hoteliers in Barbados care about Governmental laws and regulations. I know for a fact that some hoteliers does NOT pay Service charge to their staff and; for the ones that do, the staff are clueless as to how it is worked out. I know of three hotels at present that their staff is working with no contracts. Bunch of thieves – the staff works hard and are paid pittance.
You want to show your debt and gratitude – pay the workers their fair due and stop treating them like slaves.
If you are so sure -supported by evidence- why not blow the whistle? Time for the long talk is finished.
a link can be posted anywhere, anytime.
@ Retribution-things that make me go hum!
I wrote from the perspective of my experience working in the Human Resources and Accounts Department of a five star hotel in Barbados, where there was strict adherence to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
If that means I’m living in the dark ages, so be it. However, people like you will go to work daily under adverse working conditions, accept “whatever the employer dishes out to you” and never once attempt to tell your employer he/she is “living in the dark ages.”
Another thing, if you “know for a fact that some hoteliers does NOT pay Service charge to their staff and; for the ones that do, the staff are clueless as to how it is worked out,” why not use BU to name and expose those hotels, while presenting the necessary evidence to substantiate your claims. It is that simple.
Otherwise, I am forced to take your contribution as mere speculation.
“Workers are not that docile, in fact they are abreast of every situation, the narrative dictates that …..”things tight”, ….”hold on to what you got” ….”teck wha ya ca get”… and with their personal responsibilities weighing heavily on their minds, would prefer to see it through.
daunting as that would seem.” – Art, I repeat these words of 9 of 9 to answer your question.
David, I remember naming some of these Shady hotels in Barbados on this very site before – I have no fear in naming them again.
Bougainvillea, Some hotels of the Elegant Group chain – Colony Club top of that list, Radisson and Sugar Bay to name a few. It’s a known fact, Bajans are cowards and very few stand up for themselves for fear of stigmatization.
@Retribution
To use Obama’s words you need articulate you case with documents. Feel free to sent up a Dropbox and send to BU’s Gmail account.
What say you ADRIAN LOVERIDGE?….
I can only speak on our policy on wages and service charges. We always paid above BHTA rates and did not have a compulsory service charge but left it to the guests. Most of our guests were very generous and 100 per cent of the ‘tips’ went to the staff which was distributed in accordance with number of hours worked each week. Our chef worked the longest hours so therefore received the largest share, but for a room maid it virtually doubled the paid wage rate. It allowed one of our cherished house keepers the monies to put four of her children through university, something that we are very proud of.
It is up to the staff who work in the hospitality sector to mobilize if they believe the employer is taking advantage of their situation.
@Adrian
What is your view about Bridgetown opening to accommodate cruise ship arrivals? Why should the historic sites be closed? What defines a tourist destination? What is the value of the UNESCO heritage site designation?
Thank you Adrian.
If only more persons in authority had the guts and openness to respond to direct questions, in public – where it is possible for answers to be challenged by those who know – like Adrian does above.
It is so interesting that Ministers, who we pay – and even the damn PM, who appoints them and is ultimately responsible for their actions, CANNOT be relied on for a simple, direct, honest response to the most BASIC of questions.
We are being served by a bunch of retarded JA’s who have only managed to degrade even further, the image of Bajan Blacks….. the complete OPPOSITE to what Obama has managed to accomplish as a minority president in Jim Crow country.
Eternal SHAME on the Froon and his goons.
@nineofnine December 26, 2016 at 10:15 AM “How would YOU feel to take home $200/300 a week after hard labour knowing that the bossman can eat everynight in a restaurant with his family with a bill at $400 per meal?”
All I can say is that any bossman who spends $146,000 BDS per year on dinner will soon find himself in trouble. And lets suppose that he spends half as much $73,000 BDS on breakfast and lunch for a total of $210,000 BDS or $109,500 USD per year. Yes soon enough he will be in real trouble.
@nineofnine December 26, 2016 at 8:08 AM “Many of those employees LABOUR for as little as $50. per day, some/most @ $10. per day, that is $5 USD per day.”
This is patently untrue.
I don’t know who you have been talking to, but somebody has been deceiving you.
Some hotel workers are unionised, maybe many or most of them. There is no way any union would accept a wage of $5 USD per day for its workers. Wages in the hotel sector bear some relation to wages paid to domestic helpers and it is impossible to find a domestic helper for less than $25 USD per day, and this is so even for domestic helpers “without papers” ie. immigration papers. Ordinary Bajan workers are NOT stupid. None of them accept $5 USD a day from anybody. How could they when busfare alone is $2 to $4 USD per day. If they accepted $5 USD per day how would they eat, or wear clothing, or pay rent or mortgage, or wash themselves it they accepted $5 USD per day?
If you have ever spent any time in Barbados you will have noticed that hotel workers appear to be well nourished, well dressed, well groomed, well spoken. They must be geniuses if they can do that on $5 USD per day.
So I salute the hotel workers and if hotel management has any business sense they will do all that they can to retain these workers, including even better wages and benefits. Because in truth employees who are badly treated can and do vote with their feet…they migrate…and historically Barbadian workers have migrated whenever the wages at home go too low.
@nineofnine December 27, 2016 at 11:50 AM “Labour is labour, government allows 21 days and the private sector 6 …why?”
Maybe because many employees exploit the sick leave provision?
I worked for more than 40 years and at the end of my work life discovered that I had taken an average of 4 hours of sick leave per year. Most years, indeed most decades I took zero sick leave per year. But my old man always told all of us “if ya get up pun a morning and ya go work to go to and ya ain’t sick, put on ya clothes and go to work…neva tell lies pun ya body” De body is now near three score and ten and still in good nick. I never told lies on my body by saying I was sick when I wasn’t.
Maybe government is being slack by permitting 21 days sick leave per year…and employees are being slacker by exploiting the system…if we ain’t careful we the “sick” workers will end up bankrupting the NIS.
This business of emloyees saying “I got 10 days sick leave left for the year” then proceeding to their doctor for a “sick paper” is foolishness and needs to stop.
Simple Simon December 29, 2016 at 9:30 AM #
“All I can say is that any bossman who spends $146,000 BDS per year on dinner will soon find himself in trouble. And lets suppose that he spends half as much $73,000 BDS on breakfast and lunch for a total of $210,000 BDS or $109,500 USD per year. Yes soon enough he will be in real trouble.”
@ Simple Simon
Hotel managers do not actually pay for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They are allowed complimentary food and beverage from the restaurant and bar.
This business of emloyees saying “I got 10 days sick leave left for the year” then proceeding to their doctor for a “sick paper” is foolishness and needs to stop.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Who will stop it…?
1 – Politicians who barely work 30 days per year …and even THAT amounts to little more than sitting around talking shiite and eating free food…
2 – Managers who spend most days sitting around talking shiite … and then going to ‘business luncheons’ to get free food paid for by the organisation?
3 – The Union? whose only plan is to protect the right of workers to get paid the pittance wages – even as they don’t even do enough to deserve even THAT shiite pay?
4 – The doctors? Can you think of an easier way to make $120.00 than obliging a cheating employee? Besides doctors don’t know if someone is sick or faking it anyhow… or care.
or 5 – The workers themselves ..who feel alienated from the business and only clock in and out to get the ‘few coppers’ in they hands…?
I must admit that ya got me stump here.
I don’t know the answer either, although I expect that the RIGHT answer involves the workers, the employers, the unions, the policy makers, and the doctors.
@ Bushie
Unfortunately, in the private sector, there is not any definitive law relating how many sick days an employer is allowed to allocate to an employee. The 6 uncertified sick days and presenting a doctor’s certificate after being sick/absent from work for two consecutive days, are “laws of precedence.”
Employees are only made aware of this type of information when, for some reason, they have to acquire certain information from the National Insurance Department.
Additionally, I have personal knowledge of a situation where a popular construction company in Barbados paid its employees for only 4 bank holidays per year. It was only when the employees UNITED and JOINED the BWU, the union was able to negotiate with the employers to improve their conditions of employment, pay them for all bank holidays and allowing them to 6 uncertified sick days per year.
And after employers use every loop-hole to exploit their employees, you expect the employees not to find loop-holes to exploit their employers and the system as well?
@Artaxerxes December 29, 2016 at 10:39 AM “Hotel managers do not actually pay for breakfast, lunch or dinner.”
I know. A number of close relatives also work/worked in the sector. And even though I know that hotel managers do not pay the retail rate for their meals, the provision of meals is still a cost to the business. The meat was purchased with money, the vegetables and fruit and milk and cheese and wine were purchased with real, real money. The plates, cutlery, tables and chairs, the tablecloths, were purchased with money.
Often with real, real foreign exchange.
So there is a cost.
Simple Simon December 29, 2016 at 11:08 AM #
“I know. A number of close relatives also work/worked in the sector. And even though I know that hotel managers do not pay the retail rate for their meals, the provision of meals is still a cost to the business.”
@ Simple Simon
The hotel managers DO NOT PAY AT ALL…… it’s complimentary and considered to be an allowance.
And there is ALSO a COST attached to paying employees’ salaries, wages and meal allowance; the night staff a night differential incentive; paying the NIS and PAYE for expatriate employees; paying travel, entertainment and housing allowances or providing a company vehicle.
They are ALLOWANCES and par for the course in any business activity.
You must understand that employers provide their management staff with certain incentives to make their terms of employment more “comfortable and attractive,” as well as to enhance productivity.
Perhaps you should peruse the intricacies of cost & management accounting.
David,
My view is that some of these attractions and shopping options should be open, albeit with restricted hours. Its not rocket science. Most cruise people that leave the ship in port, do so after breakfast (as they have paid for it) so say 9 – 10am and either they race back for lunch (again included) or an hour before sailing (many around 4pm). With internet and social media possibilities now its easy to leap frog over the cruise ship operators and target the passengers directly. A online print off voucher could help monitor take-up with a discount off the attraction or particular store or Pelican Craft Centre even. It would be interesting to know if the Barbados Tourism Product Authority office in the port complex was open when these ships were berthed on Boxing Day and second bank holiday day. With the various trade representative bodies, it surely is possible to address these issues? If they work together perhaps something like a day cruise passport could be distributed from the BTPA office with a Bridgetown map and tourism partners offering some sort of incentive.
Our media and politicians boast about the numbers of cruise ships berthed in the port over the holidays but yet no planning to represent a premier tourist destination. Would not happen in St.Lucia.
By the way has St.Lucia offered concessions to Sandals to attract a fourth property as reported?
@ Simple Simon December 29, 2016 at 9:43 AM #
@nineofnine December 26, 2016 at 8:08 AM “Many of those employees LABOUR for as little as $50. per day, some/most @ $10. per day, that is $5 USD per day.”
This is patently untrue.
…. yes Simple Simon, you should have known that is was a speed/typo error and really meant a PER HOUR rate. thank you
@ ADRIAN LOVELL
Your devotion to employees is commendable and would hope that if there are other hoteliers here who follow these threads will take note. On the subject of points per service charge, would it not be fair and reasonable that employees (all employees) receive the same points regardless of position in the company?
Just today I had a conversation with a guest who declared that the huge amount of monies paid to spend his vacation here was by all expectations very disappointed. I asked what was his main issue… he explained that the property as advertised was in reality far below what he was introduced to and had paid for and felt that he was duped by convincing advertising among other things. He had no issues with staff nor service and intrigued by the efficiency and dedication of the staff.
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ALL INCLUSIVE ESTABLISHMENTS are a different ball game and must be addressed.
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For those who have worked their entire lives with a record of very few (if any) “sick-days” is somewhat disturbing, to me, such devotion to “the establishment” meant that one had succumbed to the dictates of mind control and servitude. Despite ones’ inept responsibilities, never should one give up their right to be in control of ONESELF and ONES’ LIFE, for at the end of the day you will be replaced and easily forgotten, with regrets that other opportunities might have enhanced such a life finding some R & R when it was most needed. HOW can one put 40+ years into one establishment, losing the opportunity to experience possibilities? What! for the sake of CAREER?
@ BUSH TEA…. “SICK PAPER”….1 – 5
You are so true, this is an observation as well, those at the top who are paid the most does the least of work… fiddle and diddle here and there, acts important and shouts the loudest bask in their positions of authority. …. with the least of brains, lack of ideas and solutions, most with belittling and demeaning attitudes, displaying a pompous arrogance that defies logic demanding respect and subservience…..a total mockery of prudence, scoffers of intelligence, most times one wonders why such persons are deem leaders.
It is so true that the humble will be raised up and the “wise YET foolish” will be abased.
The problems with this nature lies in enlarged EGOS determined by “I am and you are not, I have and you don’t” status.
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@ CRUISE SHIP TOURISM.
An idea..
Plenty of tourists on limited time with nothing to do, they want to see the place and to take a little something back with them…. BASICALLY.
Offer a select range of ACTIVITIES not available on the cruise ship….
( island tours, horseback riding, golf, tennis, watersports, air tours, safari tours etc. )
Select KEY ESTABLISHMENTS
that cater to tourist preferences…( duty free shopping, souvenir/gift shops, local cuisine, rum producers etc. )
Tourist pre-selects activity before arrival, given a voucher/pass, verifies at activities kiosks, submits it to transporter (taxi), shuttles to accommodate activity, direct payment (tariffed) made by tourist for shuttle service while all other business transactions are made directly to activities provider (tariffed) or establishment caterers (discounted vouchers).
An alternative:
Select a large open space, scenic and away from city life , furnish it festively, with all that’s of Bajan culture… wine, rum, cuisine, souvenirs and entertainment et al.. shuttle to location (priced) ….charge entrance (minimal fee)… offer discounted vouchers. ….Promote Bajan celebrities, achievers and products.
Sandals is expanding — additional properties planned for Jamaica, St. Lucia and Tobago; plus an expansion underway in Barbados.
Yet Adrian and others have described their resorts as poorly managed and disappointing to many tourists.
How can both these things be true at the same time?
Chad99999,
I had never stayed at any Sandals before our for night stay at Sandals Barbados. After all the hype, I was truly disappointed. In my fifty years in the tourism industry I have been fortunate to stay in many truly 5 star hotels and lot of very good 4 and 3 star hotels as well. During our stay, we could only eat at the ‘proper’ restaurant once despite it being almost empty every night of our stay. My steak was inedible, there was only a choice of one red wine (a very poor Spanish Merlot) and I could not even get a Barbadian made rum in the four days at any time. We had a nice room (on fifth floor) but it was not possible to go on the balcony because of the cooking of burgers etc., directly below us throughout the day and the wafting of cigarette smoke from every floor and the pool area.
On a 1 to 10 level (10 highest) I would award it 3 and would not dream of staying at another Sandals unless it was free. Having been a travel agent, tour director, tour operator (across over 70 countries) and hotelier, I believe I can be objective and balanced.
Should read ‘four night stay’
Adrian Loveridge December 30, 2016 at 10:32 AM #
“My steak was inedible, there was only a choice of one red wine (a very poor Spanish Merlot) and I could not even get a Barbadian made rum in the four days at any time.”
@ Adrian Loveridge
It’s not surprising that you were unable to “get a Barbadian made rum in the four days at any time.”
Perhaps the following articles may give you the reasons why.
+++++++++++++++++++
RJR News – 7:57 pm, Fri September 21, 2012: Appleton and Sandals sign Inter-Caribbean rum deal:
“Hotel chain, Sandal’s International and Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, have signed a deal which will bring the rum exclusively to all 19 Sandals and Beaches properties throughout the Caribbean.”
++++++++++++++++++++
Travel Weekly: September 26, 2012: “Sandals resorts bring back Appleton rum,” written by Gay Nagle Myers:
SANDALS RESORTS RENEWED ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH APPLETON ESTATE JAMAICA RUM, WHICH WILL ONCE AGAIN BE POURED AT ALL 17 SANDALS AND BEACHES RESORTS IN THE CARIBBEAN.
Appleton had been the rum of choice at Sandals and Beaches prior to a two-year agreement with Demerara Distillers’ El Dorado rum brand. That deal just concluded.
“While Sandals is a global brand, we remain a family business committed to our country of Jamaica and the region as a whole. It’s great to see two local brands joining together to offer a Caribbean experience for our guests,” said Adam Stewart, Sandals CEO.
Appleton Estate is the oldest sugar estate and distillery in continuous production in Jamaica. The estate is located in the Nassau Valley in the parish of St. Elizabeth on Jamaica’s southwest coast.
Pushers hounding visitors
Sandals Barbados….. Your exclusive is always inclusive.
Sandals advertising BARBADOS on cp24 tv Toronto right now.
Time to invite Trudeau to BARBADOS.
“After refusing for days to say where the Trudeaus had gone, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Monday that he left on Boxing Day for Nassau, Bahamas.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pmo-tried-to-keep-trudeau-s-vacation-details-secret-1.3225061
A BARRIER across the road at Heron Bay in Porters, St James, has evoked the ire of some visitors who claim it is denying them access to the beach.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/92078/roadblock-heron-bay#sthash.LcTHCDTx.dpuf
Dah beach is mine. I gine bade anytime. ( if uh can get to it by car ) !
Just a question Mr Loveridge- Can you inform based on your apparent knowledge of the intricacies of tourism and the airline industry why it costs almost twice as much to travel from Barbados to North America and the United Kingdom in contrast to travel from North America and the United Kingdom to Barbados?