As hundreds of hospitality workers sit at home in post-hurricane uncertainty, not knowing whether they have a job to return to, Opposition Spokesperson on Tourism and Linkages, Andrea Purkiss, is calling on the Government of Jamaica to end a systemic injustice that has been hiding in plain sight for far too long.

Purkiss highlighted that up to ninety per cent of Jamaica’s hotel workers are employed on rolling short-term contracts of three, six, or twelve months at a time.

“This is a deliberate strategy used by large, overseas-based hotel operators to prevent workers from qualifying for the employment protections guaranteed under the Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act of 1974,” said Purkiss.

Between contracts, workers are given calculated “contract breaks” artificial gaps designed specifically to reset the clock on their statutory rights. These are not flexible working arrangements. They are a legal trap.

“Hurricane Melissa has exposed just how cruel this trap is. Workers who have given years of loyal service to the same property, now face the possibility that their hurricane-era contract simply will not be renewed. The storm did not create their vulnerability. The contract system did,” Purkiss said.
She continued: “But the injustice cuts even deeper. Because their employment history on paper is a series of broken contracts, many of these workers cannot properly benefit from the National Insurance Scheme they have faithfully contributed to. Nor can they access bank loans or secure mortgages. They have built Jamaica’s most valuable export industry yet; they cannot build a home of their own.”

The Opposition Spokesperson is therefore calling on Pearnel Charles Jr, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, and Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, to act without delay. “The relevant legislation must be amended to recognise continuity of employment based on the actual working relationship, not the contractual architecture designed to evade it,” said Purkiss. 

Jamaica’s tourism workers have served this industry and this country with distinction. They deserve the full protection of our laws, not a system engineered to deny it to them. The time for action is now.