Gov’t contracts to be terminated if guards not treated as employees

Effective April 1, security guards in Jamaica working for scores of security firms that have contracts with the Government will be recognised as employees - and not contractors - in keeping with a 2022 Supreme Court ruling.

The Government has more than 500 contracts for security services across ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

The implication is that security firms providing services to MDAs will now be obliged to deduct contributions from security guards and pay employer contributions in respect of each worker.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke announced Thursday the appointment of a task force to engage security firms over the next 100 days to amend a raft of contracts with MDAs.

“A breach of these terms with respect to any security guard working at any ministry, department, or agency would be grounds for termination of that contract,” Clarke warned.

The task force will be led by the former deputy governor of the Bank of Jamaica Livingstone Morrison and will comprise public servants from several MDAs.

The amendment of the current contracts with the Government would mean an adjustment in the rates paid to security companies.

The finance minister said that the Government has earmarked “a few billion dollars” to pay increased sums to the security providers.

Clarke said that under the new arrangement, guards would now be in line for a range of homes delivered by the National Housing Trust.

“It would also mean that security firms would be required to make other statutory deductions, where applicable, and to guarantee payment for overtime work in accordance with the laws and the payment of overtime wages,” said Clarke.

In a case involving the National Housing Trust (NHT) vs Marksman Limited, the Supreme Court ruled last year that guards are employees and security firms employers.

In a policy address on the issue at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kingston, Clarke said that clients of security firms would now have to pay more for services. Industry leaders have projected a rise of 50 per cent.

“As the single largest procurer of security guard services in Jamaica, the Government will lead by example,” Clarke said.

Clarke is also suggesting that private companies that refuse to introduce the new arrangement going forward should be “named and shamed”.

The finance minister strongly suggested that guards engage trade unions to establish a joint industrial council to preserve harmony in the sector.

Lt Cdr George Overton, president of the Jamaica Society for Industrial Security (JSIS), told The Gleaner Thursday that compliance would come with a significant cost.

“The minister has taken the responsible step as the Government to step up to the plate and honour the cost that he will be faced with in the contracts going forward,” said Overton.

He indicated that if the private sector refuses to follow in the Government’s footsteps, the security firms would have no other option but to withdraw their services.

“We can’t afford to subsidise anybody, and, therefore, if the costs can’t be met, then there will be termination of services,” he said.

St Patrice Ennis, president of the Union of Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (UTASP), said that the minister would have announced the inclusion of a guard representative for the task force he named.

While Clarke is now focusing on the contracts between the MDAs and security firms, Ennis said that the unions believe that the task force could have had a more expanded role by having further consultations.