CUMMINGS

A stinging accusation has been made by an Opposition senator that some hoteliers have not been turning over gratuity payments due to their employees.

In a fiery contribution in the senate last Friday, Navel Clarke, People's National Party (PNP) senator, alleged that some hotels were taking more than half the gratuities due to employees and using it unlawfully for their own purposes.

Gratuities were introduced under the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention in 1965 to replace tipping in the hotel industry.

According to Clarke, most clerical workers who are being paid the National Minimum Wage of $3,700 weekly, make their real earnings from gratuities, which some managers have not been turning over to them.

"Under the convention (ILO)," he said "the percentage charged to the guests is to be made known to the workers and the guests are supposed to be informed to which workers the percentage is being distributed. It is, therefore, not the employers' money to do with as they will," Clarke said.

Using a rate charge of US$260 (J$18,460) a night per room, Clarke surmises that employees working in a 500-room hotel should be taking home $43,750 every fortnight. However, he claims that at peak season, clerical workers were making at best between $10,000 and $12,000 per fortnight.

"If this is the case, then who makes the gratuity. It is perhaps for all these reasons that the anti-union policy is so entrenched in hotels in Jamaica," the opposition Senator remarked.

Responding to Clarke's allegation, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Wayne Cummings, said he was not aware of any hotels that were improperly managing gratuity schemes. However, he suggested that there may be some gratuity schemes which are unregulated.

He noted that it was the prerogative of the Government to audit the schemes to ensure employees are benefiting fully.

"If the Ministry of Finance, through any of its agencies, believes that any of these schemes are not being operated lawfully, then the necessary sanctions would then apply," he said.

"If he (Clarke) can prove that that is so, then the Government ought to act," he Cummings added.

Contrary to Clarke's claims, though, tourism minister, Ed Bartlett, said there were some hotels that have not been turning over gratuities in a bid to protect their workers' economic interest.

"In some cases, the Ministry of Finance has not yet signed off on the gratuity arrangement for the particular hotel and, therefore, they (workers) cannot get the tax concession that they should and, as an interim measure, those payments would be made to the workers. When the ministry signs off, then the full payment is made," the minister explained.

Gratuities currently enjoy tax exemption, although there have been proposals to have that concession removed.

"So these are interim payments which are made good after the approval is given. So really, it is no intention to defraud the worker," said Bartlett.