Minister of Labour, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo (FP)
The Ministry of Labour is committed to facilitating the dissemination of timely and accurate labour market information to those who may require it.
Labour Minister, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo, gave this commitment today while speaking at the official launch of the Barbados Labour Market Information System – the Ministry’s website, at the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael.
Noting that the launch marked a new dawn in information sharing for her Ministry, Dr. Byer Suckoo said that the data available on the website, www.labour.gov.bb, should go some way towards alleviating the problems caused by the lack of access to accurate and timely information, which is often needed to effectively analyse and plan for future development.
She explained that the key features of the website included: a Holidays-with-Pay Online Calculator that would enable users to compute the remuneration to which an employee is entitled, according to the time spent in employment; an E-library which will provide access to publications, speeches, presentations and application forms produced by the Ministry; and a statistical database which will allow users to run searches for labour statistics and to query data by criteria such as gender, age-group and time period.
"In the area of employment relations, users can satisfy their workplace-related queries by accessing information on selected pieces of labour legislation such as Holidays-with-Pay, Maternity Leave and the Shops Act.?? With respect to Health and Safety matters, users will be informed as to procedures involved in a routine safety and health inspection conducted by the Labour Department and the steps that should be taken in the event that an employee is injured in the workplace," the Minister added.
Dr. Byer Sukoo also disclosed that the website would soon feature a job-matching facility, which will enable job seekers who have registered for employment in certain areas to receive alerts when vacancies in those areas are posted by employers.