Column: Neblett On Tips, Laws, Govt & More
[Opinion column written by the OBA's Carl Neblett]
The Employment [Protection of Employee Tips and Other Gratuities] Amendment Act 2023 [the “Amendment Act”] and the Procedural Guidance for determining the distribution of tips and other gratuities came into effect on 1st March 2024.
It was stated then that the Amendment Act passed in 2023 ensured the fair distribution of employee tips and other gratuities. The new law prohibits employers and their directors and shareholders from sharing in any tips, tip pool or any other gratuities unless they regularly perform, to a substantial degree, the same work performed by some or all the employees who share in the tips, tip pool or redistribution of other gratuities. [As per Public Advisory/Legislation to protect employee tips and other gratuities/29.2.24].
It was stated that it is required by law, that all employers who regularly receive tips and other gratuities must have a Policy Statement that advises on the management of tips and how other gratuities are collected and redistributed.
The minimum wage was increased in Bermuda on 1st June 2023, and the minimum rate per hour was capped at $16.40. This was a long standing request for quite a few years and the government stated that they were committed to increasing the minimum wage over time to help employees maintain a reasonable standard of living. The government’s plan is to link the minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index [CPI] to help it keep pace with inflation. The increases will be capped at a maximum of 5%, or 2.5% per year for two years.
It was further stated that while the establishment of a minimum hourly wage in Bermuda was a significant step towards ensuring fair compensation for employees and the reduction of income equality, a further step needs to be taken to ensure that employees can maintain a reasonable standard of living and their purchasing power is not diminished while the cost of everyday goods and services rise. It was stated that Government supports the Position Paper’s proposal to progress the statutory minimum hourly wage rate every two [2] years by the annual average rate of inflation, utilizing the Consumer Price Index [the “CPI”] as the indicative measure, capped at 2.5% per year. It is also determined that the newly proposed statutory minimum wage rate will be adjusted in 2025, and will be between $16.81 and $17.23.
As the new rate was applied it was also discovered that employers did not adhere to the instructions and continued in their deductions of employee gratuities and keeping the same for themselves or in other cases applying the new rate of $16.40 [inclusive of the gratuities] and then applied the regulated deductions thus reducing the hourly rate to less than the old minimum wage rate.
This situation has been unattainable to say the least as employees in the hospitality industry has ended up working for far less but the current rate of inflation continues to rise. This has been the general consensus across the industry since the introduction of the new hourly rate of $16.40.
During this same period, there has never been any form of enforcement in the process to protect the employee even though the government was made aware of the growing abuse by employers.
It’s now quite abhorrent to now see comments stating that employers must now pay workers 100% of their gratuities. What happened to the enforcement over the past 20 months? Why didn’t the government institute this instruction then.
As usual, and being quite obvious as a general election looms, the government wants to now appear to be now doing something for the labour force, just like everything else that has occurred this week. Now all of sudden after years of constant neglect, the government wants to appear that they are injecting monies into capital projects, and helping those in the service industry. Doesn’t government hypocrisy know no bounds?
The general population of Bermuda are no longer blind to the optics. The citizens of Bermuda are no longer buying into the rhetoric of the government as they continue to pretend that they care about the people by effecting repairs and now pushing for enforcement in areas that should have been in place from the inception of change.
- Carl Neblett is the One Bermuda Alliance candidate for constituency 36, Sandys North.
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Politics is a dirty job. Those in opposition complain without actually creating concrete solutions for the people. The present government placates.
Who wins? Maybe it is time to rethink politics and how it is addressed. Any good opposition fights for a stake rather than bemoan tactics used by their opponents.
Both parties are negligent in not delivering viable justice for those dependent on them. The whole system needs revamping.
It is a known fact the the OBA/UBP and the PLP aparently only care about their own interests , party leader and associate would not like to loose their high paying jobs and will do virtually nearly any thing to keep the their positions.
Why are we waiting ?
Was it either of them who passed and supported the legislation to force people including me at the age of 65 to retire with no recourse of appeal.
Be care full who you vote fore you may not be disappointed .
I vividly remember that day when a promenant PLP member commented at my going away party ,as he stood in front of me powerless by the fact that my retirement as he constituted to be a ” Brain Drain”.
Unfortunate that situation even to this day still goes un~checked while they brag that they are in support of our seniors .
That is absolute rubbish .
A well know bank manager some 30 years ago never received his pension as he passed away before he became 65 that is a hard story to remember!
I ask my self how many privalaged poilititions have reached their glory days, sorry. ! I mean golden years ?
May, I address our young people by saying that your golden years are not when you reach 65 they are well before you arrive at the ripe young age of 25 .
Do not miss the boat ,if you do, you will pay the ultimate price, hardship !
Better to spend you last penny on self education.
Advice here !
Do no wait for schools to educate you, that is not ever lasting ,be in control of you own education .
and, get together with a evening study group and EDUCATE YOUR SELF.
I am well aware that there have been many very competent people present and past who have found them self sitting on the same un wanted dusty shelf of life .
Many of you could be curious to ask why i did to put up objection on behalf for my self and many unfortunate others .
Some times in life to leave the pit fall remains open.
It is better to remain silent till the day comes when the chickens come home to roost.
Here am i some 24 years from past automatic retirement , being later, i find my self, i hope ,competent to find my way around a computer and more than able to debate any body on many topics.
The irony of it all the general manager was hired after the age of 65.
This man will come last again. LOL
Many of you have have seen me write in riddles and often refering to sayings which bare relation ship to the un solved situations piled up on on the kitchen table.
Is this my way of being nice to be nice, as you all know that which has been proven, “you can catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar”.
Many of us , I have come to presume are not happy with our present economic situation and look to solutions in the form of complaints only to find the workable solotion over the horizon.
I have another few more ideas they are a bit drastic !
I have sad news for all , it is only us who can fix it.
No body will come to our rescue.
The no bodies are also ” up the creek with no paddle” . .
Question .
Do our polatitions need a support group to be more effective ?
Never the less thanks for that big help for dealing with B.E.L.Co the money had to come from some where.
I guess you all know where !
” The united front “.
We have to be better than the rest of our competition we need to beleive in our selves we are that good .
We can brag about that loud and clear .
May be the Government could just bend a just little more, every body on the boat need to man the pumps.
The Trojan Horse back then changed the out come and became the solution to their major problem.
May i ask do we have a Trojan horse ?
I doubt that !
I often think that our complaining is the prefect solution , only in some instances, as there has a justifyable reason, but not the solution to all of our problems or is it , that ,which devide us be it” brother against brother”.
The pot of gold is not at the end of the rainbow.
A good friend on mine said Bermuda’s street are pave with gold and that we are too lazy to pick it up.
I am not buying in to that. !
Our people have worked hard to get us to where we are today, may be all we need do is this put more oil on the wheel.
Many of us are not cut out to be or want to be polatitions .
We are cut out to be voters with to power to perform miracles.
“but the current rate of inflation continues to rise”
Are you sure about that?
Our Government has consistently reported for over a year now, with only one exception that I can recall, that Bermuda’s rate of price inflation is lower than that of the United States, United Kingdom, or Canada.
” I just paid to day $8.oo for a lawn mower spark plug”. that was a no fault of their own.
Yes. ! we cut and mulching our own grass cheeper than buying a cow !
Been doing the lawn for years, so what is wrong with that, it only takes three days with a day off inbetween and rain days .
Retailers are buying less and less stock, simply because even they can’t aford to have un sold items on their selves for weeks on end .
I am looger wanting to pay those high price to take my honey bunch to lunch at places where you may see more plate than food .
What is still going on here is higher retail store mark up on esential items.
May be Mr. Bloggs coukd be talking about local bank interest rates .
There was one store a “tourist trap” no longer in business .
They got 40 % mark up on every thing and the did not have to manufacture the item in the first place.
Import duty has to be paid before it comes off the dock been that way for years what does that tell you ?
Hint !
The governments pay it self first .
With respect to inflation , D. J. T. promises his supporters that he will reduce inflation that is if and when .
Pre owned car are the best buys today unless you got to have electric.
A Poor mans steak is a slice of bread with hot gravy on it.
Baby food a slice of bread with crusts removed with warm milk on it .
May i remind remind the tourist department our warmer winters than theirs is coming knocking on their door .
Our 64 F is alot watrmer than their 46 F .
You all think i am joking here I guess that you have not been through the years of rashioning during WW11
$8 for a spark plug ? That must have been old stock that someone forgot to mark up to reflect today’s ‘modern prices’. About 10 years ago the dealer wanted $18 for a plug for my bike I laughed and went to a place that used to stock plugs along with other mechanical things and paid $8
I used to be able to get high quality name brand oil for $2.78 a quart. Now the shops are selling junk for $19 a quart and in the US high quality stuff is available for $12 a gallon. When are people here going to finally tire of bending over ?