Labour Tribunal Chair to be in place by January — Turnbull

Labour Minister Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull has indicated that a Chairman is expected to be appointed to the Labour Arbitration Tribunal soon.

The tribunal has been without a Chairman for months, causing delays in the hearing of labour disputes and other related matters.

“I think the commissioner for the tribunal’s post came to an end at the end of July,” Turnbull said at a press conference recently. “Advertisements have gone out, applications have been received. So it is now going through the process to be able to have that position filled.”

Turnbull also extended sincere apologies to persons that have cases waiting to be heard before the Labour Arbitration Tribunal.

But the Minister also noted that there are some issues that need to be regulated; particularly in relation to the budgetary process before the post is filled.

“One of the things that I met when coming in as a minister is the amount of work that the commissioner and his team carries out based on the stipend that they’re getting. So all the applicants that we receive, there’s a negotiation factor going on in terms of the stipends that they’re asking for based on the workload that is being carried out,” the Minister explained.

He added: “So, [I would] hope and say by January, hopefully once the process, the interview process and the appointments happen, we should have a new chairman in place with the budget to support that entire operation.”

The Labour Arbitration Tribunal is an independent body set up under the Labour Code, 2010 with the power to make orders and awards with the same force as an order or award from the High Court.

The Labour Arbitration Tribunal makes decisions about labour disputes and it regulates its own procedures as to how it will do so. This includes complaints about things like unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, redundancy and discrimination in the workplace as well as reviewing certain decisions of the Labour Commissioner.