Labour Department to get a Deputy Commissioner
The Department of Labour will soon receive a Deputy Labour Commissioner to help relieve some of the burdens shouldered by the Labour Commissioner.
This announcement was made at a press conference on Friday by Premier and Minister for Finance Dr Natalio Wheatley.
The Premier said he was in complete support of the Labour Department getting the resources they need to properly function and efficiently execute their jobs.
“Since I have assumed the post of Minister of Finance, I have approved for them to get a Deputy Labour Commissioner which they have not had for some time which would decrease the workload on the Labour Commissioner and I believe interviews have already been conducted for the Deputy Labour Commissioner,” the Premier said.
The Labour Department has long been a department under fire for what many people described as a lethargic approach in dealing with work permits.
At the same press conference, Labour Minister Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull described the department as having round pegs in square holes. He also said he had a conversation with Dr Wheatley about finding funds to hire additional staff.
The Minister of Finance confirmed that a few positions, along with the Deputy Commissioner, have been approved to be filled and he also reiterated his support for the Department.
“I will continue to be supportive in anyways I can because of course I know how important this is to the economy of the Virgin Islands and to people’s livelihood when people don’t get their work permits processed in a timely fashion. That brings into other questions about their immigration status and the time they have to be in the territory. It causes a lot of problems,” Dr Wheatley said.
“It certainly is a priority and anything I can do to help that process I will do. Keep in mind we certainly want to ensure that while we seek to process work permits, we have a process taking place that focuses on the development of our workforce to ensure people graduating from our secondary and tertiary institutions have a pathway into the workforce and they are not being side-lined or marginalized but of course, they have the skills necessary to meet the requirement of the job,” the Finance Minister added.
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Another family croney to be paid by us for doing nothing.
Somebody either getting promoted or demoted! Guess we have to see who land where! #staytuned
I would like to see the job descriptions of both the Labour Commissioner and the Deputy. Are they simply there to stamp work permit applications?
It appears to the general public that the Labour Department and the business community are completely and painfully disconnected though they should be working hand in hand.
How many businesses on average have work permits in process? How many work permits are in process in an average month/year? How many BVIslanders are actively seeking employment? How many employees does the Labour Department have? First let’s share some real time stats.
Come on MT. You can do better than that. Hiring a Deputy Labour Commissioner tells us, the business owners of the community who are desperate and tired of lack of communication, absolutely nothing about how the problems inside the Department are going to be solved.
Overhaul you say? Here is a simple solution, a free AHA! moment: why don’t you overhaul by listing industries and areas of business, assigning an Officer as a point of contact (or several depending on the size / proportion of permits in for a single industry) within the Labour Department to that industry, and let the communication lines open up. Rewrite applications to be industry-specific alongside all the other statutory information required on an application.
Put the horse back in front of the cart…all of our BVIslanders who are looking for specific work have an Officer to go to inside the Labour Department to see if there is anything that might fit his/her skill sets. Officer of a specific industry has access to its assigned industry’s labour pool in the form of a database and can match up resources with employers or process applications of foreigners simply and quickly if no match is found.
Officer first gets notification from a business that it is looking to fill a specific position (that would be the advertisement). Officer reviews the ad, checks his/her labour database for BVIslanders/Belongers first, and notifies the employer that there is a match. If none, then Officer contacts the applicant and the employer for in-person brief interview with any questions or inconsistencies that might be flagged on the application. Everything is pre-vetted before a final stamp goes on it by the Commish or Deputy Commish. Every party has a human point of contact along the way.
Because when it comes down to nuts and bolts aren’t the main reasons for work permits to A. allay the fears that a non-bvislander/non-belonger might have taken up a position that a qualified local should have and; B. keep the business community honest with good hard working people real jobs for real people i.e. keep the riffraff out?
Begging you. You’re killing our businesses. We’d like to help you help us.
I’m looking for work for months now, I’ve applied to some offices within government but nothing fruitful yet.Can you help Premier Wheatley?
I’m hardworking,honest, helpful,customer friendly(which some are nit within government offices),willing to learn the job given etc. Just to name a few
I have experienced the same situation. Couldn’t find work in my own country. Jobs were available, in Government. I was qualified, in need at the time, and they just won’t help me. Pure willfulness, especially if they know you and feel you allegedly have in their eyes. Unreal.