Workers blame Iberostar for failure to benefit from SET Cash COVID relief - Employees charge that hotel did not to pay over tax deductions to State
Published:Sunday | May 17, 2020 | 9:16 AMLeon Jackson/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Some displaced Iberostar employees in Rose Hall, St James, are angry with their employer, charging that they have been unable to benefit from the Government’s COVID-19 relief programme because of the hotel’s failure to pay over their income tax deductions to the State.
Qualification for the Supporting Employees with Transfer of Cash (SET Cash) grant under the relief package is dependent on a P45 form being submitted on behalf of the employees by the hotel. The form, according to information from Tax Administration Jamaica, (TAJ) indicates the amount of taxes paid by each employee. When there is no TAJ record, a person is deemed to be unemployed.
Yesterday, a female employee, who wished to remain anonymous, fearing repercussions, told The Gleaner that although she has been employed to the hotel for more than a decade, TAJ said that it had no deduction records for her.
“For the three years after Government moved the [income] tax threshold to $1.5 million, PAYE tax was deducted from us, especially when we worked overtime. It has since stopped, but those monies deducted have not been refunded,” the woman added.
Another employee showed The Gleaner a letter over the signature of Dr Anthony Ferguson, director of human resources, explaining that he had qualified for a grant of $18,000 per month, but he is contending that since income taxes were being deducted from his salary, he should also be covered under the Government’s SET Cash initiative.
“We have tried to get an explanation from the accounts department ... , but nobody ... was willing to entertain our queries,” the man claimed. “On checking the agencies for which deductions have been made, only the National Housing Trust has any records of deductions. At National Insurance [Scheme], nothing has been paid in my name.”
“Most of the nearly 1,000 employees are in the same situation,” the disgruntled staffer said.
When The Gleaner contacted Iberostar, our news team was instructed to direct queries to Michelle Grosset, the hotel’s public relations manager, but failed to get through to her after repeated attempts. She was said to be off the property.
Our attempts to speak to Ferguson and Donna Cunningham of the Accounts Department also failed.