No. 16 of 1998. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code 1 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1998. AND

BARBUDA

[ L.S. ]

I Assent,

Yvonne Maginley,
Governor-General's Deputy.

9th November, 1998.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

No. 16 of 1998

AN ACT to amend the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code Cap. 27.

[ 19th November, 1998 ]

ENACTED by the Parhment of Antigua and Barbuda as follows -

1. This Act may be cited as the Antigua and BarbudaLabour Code short title.
(Amendment) Act 1998.

2. The Antigua and Bartxlda Labour Code Cap. 27 in this Act refend Amendment of
to as the principal Act is amended in section A5 as follows - section A5.

(a) by the repeal of the definition of the words "industrial
action" appearing therein and by the substitution therefor
of the following -

"industrial action" includes any strike, lockout, picketing
related to working conditions or labour relations
generally, whether by employees or non employees and
whether literature is being distributed or not.

ANTIGUA
A h 9

BArnUDA

Amendment of
section A6.

Amendment of
section B3.

Amendment of
section B9.

Amendment of
section B12.

2 The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code NO. 16 of 1998.
(Amendment) Act, 1998.

(b) "strike" means a partial or total withdrawal of services
from an employer by two or more of the employees, in
concert or pursuant to a common understanding, or at
the request or upon the order of their bargaining agent,
either (a) as a protest against a condition of work or
employer action related thereto, or (b) as a device to
induce or compel their employer, or h s bargaining
agent, to accept conditions of employment which they
have requested, which request has been refused."

(c) by inserting after its appropriate alphabetical order the
following -
"temporary employee" means a worker who is employed
for a specific period not exceeding six months.

3. The principal Act is hereby amended in section A6 by deleting
the words "operating or doing business" wherever these words
Occur.

4. Section B3 of the principal Act is amended by inserting
immediately after the definition of the words "severance pay"
appearing therein the following -

"suspension" means temporary lay off from work for not more
than four weeks with or without pay as a penalty or pending
investigation of the employee's alleged misconduct".

5. Section B9 of the principal Act is hereby amended in subsection
(1) by the insertion immediately after the word '&smissals' appearing
there in line 3 of the words "or suspension".

6. Section B 12 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1)
by the repeal of paragraph (b) and by the substitution thereof of the
following-

"(b) in an unfair dismissal or suspension without pay matter,
he may order the payment of a sum of money equal to
loss of wages sustained and, in addition thereto he may
also order the re-instatement or restoration of the
person dismissed or suspended, or the payment of a
sum of money in lieu of such reinstatement".

NO. 16 of 1998. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code 3 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1998. AND

BARBUDA

7. Section C3 is amended by the repeal of the defmition of Amendment of
"redundancy" and by the substitution of the following - section c 3 .

"redundancy" means a situation in which by virtue of lack of
customers orders, retrenchment, the installation of labour
saving machinery, an employer's going out of business, a
force rnajeure, or any other reason, work which a person was
last employed to perform has ceased or substantially
diminished.

8. Section C10 of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of Amendment of
subsection (1) and the substitution of the following - section CIO.

"(1) Upon termination by an employer of an employee's
employment subsequent to the expiration of the latter's
probation period, the employer shall, within seven (7) days of
the termination or notice thereof, furnish to such employee a
written statement of the precise reason for the termination".

9. Section C16 of the principal Act is amended as follows - Amendment of
section C16.

(a) by the repeal of paragraph (1) and by the substitution of
the following -

"(i) said leave shall be taken only in connection with
actual illness or other physical incapacitation for
work, evidence of which in the form of a Doctor's
Certiticate or other satisfactory means, must be
furnished by the involved employee to his
employer on the third (3) consecutive day of any
such leave".

(b) by the repeal of paragraph (ii) and by the substitution of
the following -

"(ii) in the event that, in the opinion of his employer
the extent of such leave taken renders the
employee unfit to continue in his employment
and the employer terminates the employment
therefor, the employee shall receive compensation

ANTIGUA 4 The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code No. 16 of 1998.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1998.

BARBUDA

calculated in the manner specified under Part 4 or
a collective agreement in force relating to
compensation for severance pay".

(c ) by the insertion irnmdately after paragraph (ii) of the
following new paragraph -

"(iii) in the event that the illness of an employee or his
incapacity is such that he is unable to continue to
exercise his duties under his contract of
employment, then he may apply to be examined
by a medical board appointed in accordance with
regulations made under this Act and wkre the
Board decides that he is unable to continue to
exercise his duties under his contract, then he
shall receive compensation calculated in the
manner specified under Part 4 or a collective
agreement in force relating to compensation for
severance pay".

~mencinient of 10. Section C19 of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of
section C19. subsection (1) Ulereof and the substitution therefor of the following -

"(1) Any employer who contravenes the provisions of
section C14, C15, C17 or C18 is guilty of an offence and is
liable on summary conviction to a fine of $500 or to
imprisonment for six months."

11. Section C20 of the principal Act is repealed and replaced by
the following -

"Matemity C20. (1) A female employee shall, on
leave. production of a medical ce&cate stating the

presumed date of her confinement, be entitled to
a period of maternity leave in accordance with
the provisions of this section.

(2) A female employee with a minimum of
twelve months unbroken service in her
employment is entitled whenever she is pregnant
to a maternity leave of at least six weeks.

NO. 16 of 1998. l%e Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code 5 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1998. AND

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(3) A female employee who is granted
maternity leave under this section is entitled to
receive not less than forty percentum of her basic
wages during the period of the maternity leave.'

12. Section C22 of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of Amendment of
subsection (3) and by the substitution of the following - section ~ 2 2 .

"(3) Giving full consideration to the recommendations of
the said committee, the Minister may thereupon issue an order
prescribing the basic minimum wage payable for each such
occupation and each level within such occupation:

Provided that an order issued by the Minister under this
subsection shall not continue in force for more than two

years".

13. The proviso to section C27 of the principal Act is repealed and Amendment of
replaced by the following - section C27.

''Provided that the Minister, may after consultation with
employer and employee representatives, revise these standards
for any given industry or enterprise by the issuance of an Order
to that effect."

14. Section C28 of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of Amendment of
subsection (2) and the substitution of the following - section C28.

"(2) Any person who contravenes the requirement of
section C27 is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary
conviction to a fine of $1,500 and to imprisonment for six
months. In addition, the Court may order the payment of any
sum found due to any involved employee if warranted by the
circumstances."

15. Section C34 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1) Amendment of
by repeal of all the words beginning with the word "shall" after section C34.

paragraph (c) and ending with the word 'dollars" and by the
substitution of the following -

ANTIGUA 6 The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code No. 16 of 1998.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1998.

BARBUDA

"is gdty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to
a fine of $2,000 or to imprisonment for six months and for a
second or subsequent offence to a fine of $5,000 and to
imprisonment for twelve months ".

Amendment of 16. Section C46 of the principal Act is amended by the repeal of
section C46. subsection (3) and by the substitution of the following -

"(3) Any person who fails to comply with the provisions of
subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and is liable on
summary conviction to a fine of $1,500 and to imprisonment
for six months".

Amendment of 17. Section C50 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (3)
section C50. by the deletion of the word "five" appearing therein and by the

substitution of the word "ten".

Amendment of 18. Section C58 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (1)
section C58. by the deletion of paragraph (e) and the substitution of the follow-

'=% -

"(e) is prolonged illness or some other substantial reason of
a kind which would entitle a reasonable employer to
dismiss an employee holding the position which the
employee held".

Amendment of 19. Section C59 of the principal Act is amended as follows -
section C59.

(a) by the repeal of subsection (2) and the substitution
therefor of the following -

"(2) Where an employee is guilty of
misconduct in or in relation to his employment
that is not sufficiently serious to permit his
employer to terminate his employment under
subsection (1) but is such that the employer
cannot reasonably be expected to tolerate a
repetition, the employer may give ihe employee
a written warning which shall describe the

NO. 16 of 1998. The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code 7 ANTIGUA
(Amendment) Act, 1998. AND

BARBUDA

misconduct in respect of which the warning is
given and state the action the employer intends to
take in the event of -

(a) a repetition of the misconduct; or

(b) the commission of another
misconduct which is as serious as
the one in respect of which the
written warning was given.

(3) The action to be taken under subsection
(2) may include suspension without pay for such
period as may be specified in the written warning.

(4) Where, within six months of the receipt of
the written warning under subsection (2), the
employee is gdty of the same misconduct or is
guilty of another misconduct in relation to his
work which is as serious as the one in respect of
whichthe written warning was given, the employer
may terminate the employment of the employee
or take such other action as may have been
specified in the written warning."

(b) by the renumbering of subsection (3) as subsection (5).

20. Section C64 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (3) Amendment of
by the deletion of the word 'five" appearing in the first line and by section C64.

the substitution of the word "ten".

21. Section C65 of the principal Act is hereby amended by the Amendment
repeal of subsection (2) and by the substitution of the following - ~fsecfion C65

"(2) Any person gdty of such offence is liable on summary
conviction to a fine of $5M or to imprisonment for six months.
In addition the Court may, having regard to the decision of the
hearing Offcer or if a review has been requested, to the
decision on the review, make such order or orders as he
considers necessary."

ANTIGUA 8 The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Code No. 16 of 1998.
AND (Amendment) Act, 1998.

BARBUDA

Repeal of section 22. Section 57 of the principal Act is amended in subsection (2)
37. by the repeal of paragraph (a) and by the substitution of the follow-

ing -

"(a) a direction by the Labour Commissioner that a secret
ballot, as described in section Jll, be conducted."

~epeal of section 23. Section J11 of the principal Act is hereby amended by the
~ 1 1 . repeal of subsection (1) and by the substitution of the following -

"(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to secret
ballots conducted in accordance with a direction and
supervision of the Labour Commissioner under section J7 (2)
(a) and those conducted under a direction of election appearing
in a decision of a Hearing Officer issued in accordance with
section J9 (7) (a)".

Amendment of 24. The principal Act is amended in section 513 (2) by the repeal
section J13. of paragraph (b) and by the substitution of the following new

paragraph -

"(b) The negotiating fee referred to in subparagraph 2 (a)
shall, in the case of -

(i) Workers other than union members, for the
bargaining unit be fifty dollars per contract per
year."

Passed the House of Representatives this Passed the Senate this 28th day of
25th day of May, 1998. August, 1998.

B. Harris,
Speaker.

M. Percival,
President.

S. Walker, S. Walker,
Clerk to the House of Representatives. Clerk to the Senate.

Printed at the Government Printing Office, Antigua and Barbuda
by Rupert Charity, Government Printer

-By Authority, 1998.
800-11.98 [ Price $3.65 ]