THE security firm, Secure St. Lucia Ltd, may find itself butting heads with the Labour Department and the Minister of Labour over its refusal to accept responsibility for overtime payments to employees amounting to $700,000.
The company, said to have amassed that amount of money in overtime payments between 2012 and now, has been steadfast in its refusal to admit that the amount is correct when pointed out by the employees bargaining agent, the National Workers Union.
Ray Narcisse, the acting Labour Commissioner also confirmed the amount as being correct and has called on the company to accept its responsibility.
The company has denied it owed employees so much in overtime.
In a letter to Narcisse and copied to Labour Minister Robert Lewis yesterday, the union says it has had enough and calls on the Ministry not to stand idly by and allow gross exploitation inflicted on workers by some employers.
“Sir, as I write, workers are still leaving their shifts three quarters of an hour late without any consideration and compensation by the company. We must not forget that these workers are the same armed guards who continue to protect life and property that the security services oversee. Workers are getting fed up and will one day take no more,” the union’s President General, Tyrone Maynard said.
Meanwhile employees have acknowledged the sum of $700,000 as overtime payments owed to them and have refused an interim payment covering the period January 2015 – June 2015.