Officials seeking to allay fears

Durrant Pate/ Contributor

Jamaica-based regional all-inclusive hotel chain, Sandals Resort International has ‘laid off’ some 200 workers at its resort in Barbados.

Sources say the layoffs is as a result of the current off-peak season, which will pick up as the winter tourist season, which starts in December, kicks in. It is being reported that the workers laid off are mostly seasonal employees but Minister of Labour, Colin Jordan is seeking to downplay the significance of the layoffs by Sandals Barbados.

In fact, Jordan has declared that there is nothing illegal about the recent layoffs by Sandals but cautioned employers that such decisions should only be taken as a last resort or within reason, following consultation with the Labour Department or the employees’ bargaining body.

No immediate threat to job security 

In the meantime, the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) is also allaying fears about job security in tourism, describing the Sandals layoffs as part of a typical seasonal pattern. Newly appointed BHTA Chairman Javon Griffith told Barbados TODAY that the redundancies reflect the annual downturn in business faced by the wider industry.

“That is pretty standard across the industry at this time of year,” Griffith explained. “Of course, for a property like that, it would seem like a lot, because they have two hotels side by side.”

He pointed out that many hotels typically scale back operations after the island’s popular Crop Over, which is a traditional harvest festival, which began in Barbados, having had its early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during slavery.

He said that often times many hotels close for renovations after Crop Over, which runs from the end of July to the first week of August and during September when there is a significant decline in business. He said workers are usually laid off if the closure period exceeds their holiday entitlement.