Prudence N. Barnes, Contributor
Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, executive director of the Jamaica Employers Federation. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE COMPENSATION adjustment to the Public Sector Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a nice gesture, says Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd, executive director of the Jamaica Employers Federation (JEF), but public and private sector employers need to implement productivity incentives and performance-based pay increases to boost productivity.
Government and the trade unions recently reached an agreement on the revised MoU which will, among other things, see a payout of $1.8 billion to 80,000 public sector employees up to March 31, 2006, to alleviate inflationary pressures.
Mrs. Coke-Lloyd, boss of the 58-year-old employers' repre-sentative body, said payouts such as that under the addendum to the MoU would not necessarily solve the long-term problems of produc-tivity. A longer term solution which benefits both workers and employers is required, she said.
"What we are advocating is that the employers look at their systems, look at performance-based pay; look at productivity incentive programmes, because both parties will win. If your output goes up and the employee is likely to earn more then we would have solved the problem."
Mrs. Coke-Lloyd added that when pay is tied to output, this would motivate persons to work in a different way. "So we would think that is one way that both private and public sectors need to manage inflation and erosion."
The country, she said, needed to look at a better solution to productivity and compensation. "We really need to look at how productive we are as a country," Mrs. Coke-Lloyd said, adding that recent studies have shown that Jamaica was trailing most of its trading partners with respect to its productivity levels.
"It therefore means that that is what we need to spend time and money on; how productive we are; why are we unproductive, if we are unproductive ... fill those gaps, do the necessary interventions, provide the necessary education, coaching and training," she said.
On the matter of the impact of the macro-economic climate for the employers, she noted that the cost of doing business in Jamaica has gone up dramatically and many firms are now having difficulty passing on the increases because of market conditions. "Employers are now faced with increased costs in every way. You have fuel cost and you know once fuel increases then everything increases."
Mrs. Coke-Lloyd said that based on research, it has been determined that Jamaican employers were facing an average 25 per cent increase in the cost of doing business. This cost, she pointed out, was running above the rate of inflation.
A number of factors that could help in reducing the cost of doing business, she said included, seriously exploring alternative energy solutions and educating the populace about managing their businesses and their lives. Carpooling and flexi-work arrangements are two suggestions which could save time and money.
She also noted that employers were being encouraged to export as part of the strategy to cushion themselves against the diminished spending power in the local economy.
She pointed to outdated labour legislation as hampering businesses. This includes amendments to legislation that would encourage investments and give existing businesses the latitude to expand. Mrs. Coke -Lloyd pointed specifically to legislation on flexi-time which has been pending for over five years, as well as the laws which govern redundancy and other conditions of service.
In many of Jamaica's competitors, employers do not necessarily make redundancy payments as is the case in Jamaica.
"Some countries have a pooled funds system contributed to, by Government, employer and worker," Mrs. Coke-Lloyd said, noting that this shared responsibility was more investor-friendly.
She said that for organisations which needed to restructure for growth, the redundancy laws which require that the company compensate workers dislocated based on their years of service, was a hindrance to business. While the JEF was not advocating that there should be no form of compensation for workers made redundant, she said, the problem was the mechanism and how the compensation was arrived at.
The JEF will also be urging the formulation and implementation of a National Employment Policy to give guidance and forecast the country's employment outlook for the next 10 to 15 years.
represents Jamaican private sector employers in Jamaica and in the Caribbean through the Caribbean Employers Federation, the International Organisation of Employers and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Taken from the Financial Gleaner, Friday, October 21, 2005
