BEC turns focus to smaller enterprises

The Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC) will be focusing some of its attention on assisting owners of micro, small and medium enterprises.
This is according to industrial relations officer Siobhan Robinson-Morris who last week identified this as one of the BEC’s initiatives for the rest of this year.
“The balance of 2013 will also see us working on programmes to develop the micro, small and medium sized enterprises as we seek to provide the entrepreneurial class will relevant skills and competencies to ensure the sustainability of their enterprises while providing decent work for their employees,” she said.
Speaking during a news conference last Monday at the BEC’s Brittons Hill, St Michael office, she said the trade union for employers would also be embarking on member visits.
“By visiting their businesses we can get a better sense of their operations as well as provide them with an avenue to raise issues or concerns that they may have,” she said.
In her report on the BEC’s activities over the past year, Robinson-Morris said the secretariat had been working to ensure employers were represented in matters relating to industrial relations and human resource management.
She said the BEC and the Barbados Private Sector Association had continued to lobby and agitate on behalf of the employers on things such as minimum wage legislation for shop assistants, the Employment Rights Act and the Holidays with Pay Bill.
The industrial relations officer said the BEC also offered training in a number of areas including the Safety and Health at Work Act, the Employment Rights Act, writing skills for managing people and terminations. (NB)