Labour Ministry Still Considering Flexi Work Arrangement

Labour and Social Security Minister, Horace Dalley has stressed that the flexi work arrangement was an issue that the Ministry “must conclude and implement in the country” in the very near future.
Making his presentation in the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate to the House of Representatives yesterday (May 17), Minister Dalley said the delay in the implementation of the flexi work week, was because of concerns by the church, that such an arrangement would conflict with days for worship.
“There are concerns from the churches that flexi week will cause persons to lose the corporate day of worship,” the Minister said, “and concerns that flexi work will make every day a work day.”
Notwithstanding these concerns, Mr. Dalley told members of the House that, “already in Jamaica, every day is a workday. There were (Seventh Day) Adventists who go to shop on Sundays (and) there are other persons who worship on a Sunday and go to supermarket and go shopping on a Saturday.”
He noted that the House of Representatives had again given its approval for the formation of a Joint Select Committee to consider the matter and appealed to the political parties, concerned churches and trade union representatives “to let us finally once and for all, approve and go ahead with the [implementation of] the flexi work arrangement.”
“We are not going to draft any new legislation to come to the House, but what we intend to do, because already time has passed us, is to amend those legislation that we have like the Shops and Offices Act, Holiday with Pay Act, and so on and so forth, to bring into being the flexi work arrangement.”