Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Shahine Robinson, has underscored the importance of training to the island’s workforce. “Training and development of our workforce will only serve to elevate us. It will help to enhance productivity, it will help to improve work ethic, and in general, will give all of us a better quality of life,” the Minister said....

Close to 300 Jamaicans will be taking up employment opportunities in Canada under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme (SAWP). The workers, 87 per cent of whom are returnees, will be deployed mainly to farms in Ontario. They began departing the island on Thursday (January 3). At a send-off ceremony held at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Overseas Employment...

Wife of the Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, is encouraging Jamaicans not to belittle the significance of blue collar jobs, noting that they are all critical to nation-building. “In order for Jamaica to achieve its potential for prosperity, we must encourage partnerships between public and private sector, political and church organisations, between yard and foreign... and between women...

Approximately 45 persons were educated about the various aspects of mentorship at the first We Transform Mentorship Training session earlier this month, held at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) Training Room, in Kingston. The We Transform Programme is the Ministry of National Security’s flagship youth transformation programme that aims to equip children within the care of the DCS with...

Effective January 2019, the period for the payment of National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions using stamp cards, will be changed to the calendar year, January to December from the existing financial year, April to March. Speaking with JIS News recently, Director of National Insurance at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Portia Magnus, said that the change in the...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is intensifying efforts to curtail child labour in Jamaica through a ‘Risk Identification Model’ programme being implemented to identify communities where this illicit activity is occurring, in order to facilitate interventions. According to Director of Child Labour in the Ministry, Sacha Deer Gordon, the initiative will entail creating vulnerability maps that highlight areas...

The Government is developing a National Action Plan to transition household workers and fisherfolk to the formal economy. The initiative is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, through support from the International Labour Organization (ILO). Recently, a two-day consultative workshop was held at the Ministry’s North Street offices in Kingston, aimed at garnering the input of...

Employers and workers are being encouraged to educate themselves about the country’s labour laws in order to facilitate smooth negotiations in settling disputes. The call came from State Minister in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Zavia Mayne, in his address at the Kingston leg of the ‘Labour Department and You’ road show at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel,...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is working collaboratively with the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) to tackle child labour at the community level. “We will be having a community-level intervention to encourage behaviour change, based on the data revealed in the recent Youth Activity Survey,” said portfolio Minister, Hon. Shahine Robinson. “This project will also extend to the...