Jamaica Productivity Centre to host virtual conference August 20

The Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC), an agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, will host a virtual productivity forum on Thursday, August 20 at 10:00 a.m., focusing on flexi work arrangements.

Speaking with JIS News, Chief Technical Director of the JPC, Tamar Nelson, said the decision to host the forum came out of World Productivity Day, which was observed recently under the theme ‘Work smarter, not harder’.

“What we noticed was that there were many areas of concern raised that needed to be addressed, including flexi work arrangements,” she said.

Ms. Nelson pointed out that resource persons will be on hand to address the issues and to share their experiences.

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Michael Lester Henry, will lead the forum, looking at the legislative framework and Labour Laws associated with flexible work arrangements.

Several labour experts will also participate in the forum. These include President of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), Helen Davis White; Divisional Director Industrial Relations and Allied Services, Labour Ministry, Gillian Corrodus; Director of Information Security Advisory, Symptal, Rory Ebanks; and Human Resource Manager, Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited, Kaydian Morris.

Areas of focus will be technology infrastructure and security, staff commitment and accountability, measurement and verification, innovation, legislative framework and labour laws, and challenges and workarounds.

According to Ms. Nelson, this promises to be a rich discussion, and persons who are expected to benefit significantly from this kind of intervention are human resource practitioners, business owners, entrepreneurs, those who are already in a flexible work arrangement, and those who are considering it as a viable option.

The event will be conducted via zoom and streamed live on the social media pages of the Ministry/JPC and JIS. Scheduled broadcast of the forum will be carried live on Power 106 FM and the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ).