ATTORNEY-AT-LAW AND Member of Parliament for St James North, Edmund Hinkson, has taken a swing at what he is calling a backlog of cases under the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT), and is blaming the Government for the issue.
“There is a plethora of cases presently waiting to be heard. I filed two cases on behalf of clients earlier this year before the tribunal. I’ve been told reliably that there is no way, under normal circumstances, that those cases can be heard in less than two and a half years.
“The Cabinet and Government of Barbados are totally to blame for not giving the Employment Rights Tribunal the [tools] which are required to help it operate effectively. There is only one secretary to serve the three tribunals, so therefore only one tribunal can operate at any given time,” he said during a recent telephone interview.
The ERT was set up under the Employment Rights Act, which was enacted and came into operation in 2013. However, one year later, the committee members resigned with the exception of one. At the time they had charged there was no administrative set up for them to function as a unit. (RA)
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