Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Preliminary findings of the probe into the working conditions in wholesale establishments in downtown Kingston have found that workers in these facilities are being denied overtime payment.

This is according to Faith Innerarity, chief technical director in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Mrs. Innerarity told The Gleaner yesterday, that while the probe was not completed, the issue of compensation was a sore point.

"The major issue that we have seen is on the matter of overtime payment," she told The Gleaner.

She said that, while in many cases the establishments upheld the 40-hour per week minimum wage of $3,200, many of them failed to compensate workers beyond the 40 hours.

"That is one of the major problems that we have found," she said. "We explained that, beyond that they need to pay overtime."

Mrs. Innerarity said 72 establishments were visited during the probe. The ministry is continuing its investigation into the health and safety practices of the wholesales. This should be completed within another week.

Probe launched

The ministry launched a probe into the operations of the establishments following the findings of a study, that women employed in wholesales in downtown Kingston were being made to work in conditions which are in breach of the law.

The study, which was done as a research paper by Ann-Murray Brown for her master's thesis at the University of the West Indies, was released last month at a workshop in Kingston.

Meanwhile, the ministry met last week with some 70 owners and operators of a number of these establishments to sensitise them about the requirements of the labour laws and provide a forum for them to discuss their concerns.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com