Comprehensive review of Labour Code coming
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has announced that the government will embark on a “comprehensive review of the Labour Code.”
Speaking at a recent sitting of the House of Assembly, Premier Wheatley said this review is intended to enhance working conditions and update the legislation to reflect current needs.
The Premier made the remarks while responding to concerns by Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch Turnbull’ about labour reform and the effectiveness of current employment laws.
He said the review will be done with the support of the International Labour Organisation and explained that it comes as the territory transitions to a new phase of development, which he said comes after a ‘development boom’ in tourism and financial services.
“It’s more critical now than ever that we transition [from] large-scale importation of labour to large-scale training of your people for the opportunities which exist there,” the Premier said.
The announcement comes on the heels of the government’s phased implementation of a minimum wage increase from $6 to $7.25 per hour, effective 1 July 2025.
He stated that the review will undergo public consultation and noted that the House will debate the review once it has been completed.
“After we do this comprehensive review, we’re going to have to do regulations for the entire code,” Dr Wheatley added. “We could have done the regulations for the entire code as opposed to just dealing with this aspect, but if you’re going to review and change your code, it could have substantial changes.”
The Labour Code governs employment practices in the territory and covers areas such as contracts, wages, and dispute resolution. While it was last updated in 2010, officials have signalled the need for broader reform in recent years.
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People on work-permits should not be allowed to come into the country and work indefinitely…. Make sure that they exit at a point and reapply to come back in….7-year intervals are fine…By then a local should be trained to take their place……Also, new work-permits should not be issued between the months of June to September, giving the graduates time to acquire jobs.
That would work really well wouldn’t it. Have you even thought this through? My business really needs to import an experienced professional for a time sensitive contract but I have to tell the client that they need to wait 4 months as I have to wait to see if there is a graduate with 20 years experience in my specialist field?
Same with the 7 year rule, that’s fine in your simplistic world but not fine where my employee is a specialist in their field and 7 years isn’t enough to train a local even if there was anyone with the aptitude to learn the role.
@Fix it once and for all!
The Labour Dept. is already a huge pothole in the road to economic development for the territory.
Your clever plan would wash out the bridges on that road.
In the 90s, Hon. Cyril Romney pointed out the fallacy of this argument, being made by the then Labour Minister, commenting that there are not enough BVIslanders to cover expat employees as well as their own jobs. There are plenty of jobs for school leavers, if they want to work long hours in the service sector, but they don’t. Any employer will pick a local over an expat if they have the right skills and attitude, but these are in short supply. Get rid of the Labour Department and see the whole economy flourish.
If it ain’t broke leave it ALONE!
The new BVI Government’s website is horrible!
The previous version was more user friendly.
This new version looks like an amateur did iit.
Look into companies that just taking away vacation days that people already earned and not wanting to even pay them for them.
C** is one big multi million dollar company robbing it staff of their vacation days without compensation for them.
THATS THE MENTALITY..OF THE DUDE ON THE YELLO SITE WITH HIS WIG / ALWAYS SPEWING OUT HIS GUTTER MENTALITY WITB HATRED , ENVY AND WITH HIS ADDED XENOPHOBIA ON OUTSIDERS EXPATS ISLAND PEOPLE / AND WE LIVE ON AN ISLAND . YET POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK ■ SO YOU HAVE TO EXCUSE HIM , HIS NARCISSISTIC EGO IS IN OVERDRIVE / COUNT HIM AS A LOST SOUL LOOKING FOR ATTENTION
Review of the water supply !
Nobody wants to work here.
@Nobody
With the months-long wait for a work permit to slowly ooze its way through the Labour Dept. maze, too true.
After 60+ years of various attempts to control employees and employers with labour laws it is obvious these laws are ignored and useless in 2025. The only purpose of Labour Codes seems to be to provide employment for some BVI government civil servants. Best solution is to repeal the 2010 Code, dissolve the Dept. of Labour and Workforce Development and free commercial business to manage themselves WITHOUT government interference.
Without immigrants and foreign workers, this country would struggle to function properly. Many locals are moving abroad for better education and job opportunities, and some even settle permanently in other countries. Ironically, some return to take up government jobs with higher salaries—salaries that are often funded by the taxes paid by outsiders who are working hard here. This creates a serious gap in our skilled workforce and reduces the number of consistent taxpayers supporting the economy. Skilled labor is essential—not just to maintain our infrastructure, but to improve it. For example, we may have good roads, but how long do repairs actually take? Tourists won’t be drawn to a country that lacks reliable services and infrastructure. Yes, we are fortunate to be located near the USA, which brings seasonal visitors, but that alone won’t sustain us. The cost of living here is alarmingly high—one egg can cost $9—while the minimum wage remains just $7.25 an hour. With most goods being imported, daily life becomes a serious struggle for locals. It’s time the government acknowledges that without a fair system that values and supports both locals and foreign workers, the country cannot operate in a healthy, wealthy, or peaceful way. Real change is needed in how we treat workers and plan for the future.
When people are clouded by hate they have no knowledge of global economics movement, production of supply and demand and growth.
The indigenous population is shrinking.
The children are marrying who they love
Some stay at home while the majority move to greener economic pastures and find better paying opportunities
What will you do- Prejudice ones
Fill the positions with unqualified young people who come out of ESHS who can hardly fill a fform
Download information from the internet they can hardly understand
Put resume together by
Their parents that they could hardly
read
Have no courtesy when answering a phone call
Do not try to
Learn anything outside what they are told on the job.
Pur unqualified BVI m who has experience and a degree just because its a BVI person
Where is productivity in this kind of selection?
That is why we as a country seem to be going backwards while the rest of our Caribbean brothers and sisters move on .
The Dept Premier went on a Caribbean trip
Let him talk about the professional way he was treated
They feel Caribbean people do not come from substance.
Hatred of others is unbecoming we are sliding we cannot stiffile the growth of a country for a selected few. Our industries will suffer
Our economy will suffer
The BVI will suffer
Review the dam Greedy Bill. Review of Lab Code should have been done twenty years ago. Review the immigration Board. Review what you are doing to the dam country.