Bahamas Department of Labour - Nassau

Departments & Responsibilities
Conciliation:
The Mission of the Conciliation Unit is to provide a neutral, free, fast and fair conciliation service to all disputant parties in order to assist them toward an amicable resolution of their dispute. Generally, conciliation is a process of rational and orderly discussion of differences between parties under the guidance of a conciliator. Conciliation is a service provided by the Department of Labour by which joint consultations are arranged with a conciliator (a neutral third party provided by the Department of Labour) who chairs meetings as a means of helping disputant parties to reduce the extent of their differences and to arrive at an amicable settlement or resolution. These services are provided to:

•Trade Unions on behalf of their  

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members
•Individual workers who aren’t members of a trade union
•Individual employers who aren’t members of a trade union of employers
•Trade union of employers
Employment Exchange:
The mission is to support and contribute to the economic development of The Bahamas and the financial independence of its citizens through a system that provides consistently efficient and effective workforce services to employers and job seekers.

The Bahamas Employment Exchange was established to facilitate improved functioning of the labour market, bringing employers and employees together with a view to finding job placements for workers so as to encourage the full utilization of Bahamian manpower and support for The Government’s Bahamianization Policy. The service provides a system of freely chosen employment for workers and is mainly concerned with:

•the collection of information concerning job vacancies
•the preparation of a register of those seeking work
•the placement of workers in employment
Particulars of job vacancies received in any Labour Office are circulated in all the departments, including those in the Family Islands, enabling workers to enhance their employment opportunities in other districts. The Exchange administers the system of distribution of Labour certificates where it is unable to fill a vacancy by Bahamians.

This Unit focuses on two separate but concurrent employment services: the Adult Employment Exchange, which caters to the needs of persons over 20 years of age and professionals and the Youth Employment Exchange Services, which caters to persons under the age of 20.

Both employment services are charged with the following duties:

•Registration of all unemployed persons
•Registration of all unemployed persons who are actively seeking employment
•Registration of all unemployed persons who are available for work;
•Interviews of unemployed persons
•Referral and placement of unemployed persons for gainful employment
•Guidance and counseling to both unemployed adults and youth
•Trade testing and certification
Inspection
The mission of this Unit is to work with employers, trade unions and employees to promote, develop and implement good industrial relations practices in order to enforce labour legislation and to enhance the economic well-being of the enterprise and the health and safety of workers.

General Inspection

The main purpose of Labour Inspection is to carry out general inspections relating to statutory laws and to supervise union elections. It covers a broad spectrum of areas under its purview, such as industrial relations, general conditions of work and occupational health and safety. Inspection is one of the most important instruments used to enforce legal provisions relating to conditions of work and protection of workers while engaged in their work. Such provisions relate to work hours, wages, safety, health welfare, the employment of children and young persons and other connected matters. Essentially, the Unit ensures that adequate protection of workers is in place so as to ensure that duties are performed in a secure, efficient and decent manner.

In addition to the foregoing, Inspectors supply technical information and advice to employers and employees concerning the most effective means of complying with legal provisions. The Inspectors also bring to the attention of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions. The Unit maintains statistical records relating to inspection and investigation of cases dealt with.

Safety and Welfare Inspection

The Inspection Unit maintains regular inspection of establishments and other work sites so that workers can feel confident that adequate precautions are taken on the job site to secure their safety and welfare. Reports are made on sites visited to make certain safety rules and regulations are complied with. Inspectors also recommend, where necessary, such changes in procedure that will maintain the safety and welfare of workers.

Statistical Unit

The responsibility of the Statistical Unit is to obtain and update information relevant to occupational demand and supply and the characteristics of occupations, specifically, labour market data obtained. This Unit plans, organizes, evaluates, collects and interprets statistical data relevant to the Department’s function. This information is collected for the registration of job applications, registration of job vacancies, labour disputes and labour inspection and investigation.

The Statistical Unit disseminates statistical information and co-ordinates statistical activities of the Department with Government’s Department of Statistics, that is, labour market information and labour market analysis. The Unit also forecasts the supply and demand of jobs, according to the data it receives.