Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) - Saint Lucia (Ratification: 1980)

Article 4(1) of the Convention. Partial payment of wages in kind. The Committee notes with interest that under section 56(1)(c) of the Labour Act 2006, which entered into force in August 2012, the partial payment of wages in the form of intoxicating liquor, tobacco, cigarettes, noxious drugs or substances and weapons is now expressly prohibited – a point on which the Committee has been commenting for a number of years with reference to section 2 of the Wages Ordinance (Amendment) Act, No. 13 of 1975.

Article 8(1). Authorized deductions from wages. The Committee notes that whereas under section 17 of the Protection of Wages Ordinance No. 23 of 1965, a reasonable deduction from a worker’s wages could be authorized in writing by the Labour Commissioner in respect of injury or loss occasioned by the wilful misconduct or negligence of the worker, section 51 of the new Labour Act 2006 permits subject to the prior approval of the Labour Commissioner deductions by way of fine for bad or negligent work, and for damage to the materials or other property of the employer. The Committee observes that injury or loss does not need any longer to be occasioned by the worker’s wilful misconduct or negligence to possibly give rise to a wage deduction, and also that deductions in the form of fines are now permissible. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that under paragraph 2 of the Protection of Wages Recommendation, 1949 (No. 85), deductions from wages for the reimbursement of loss or damage to the products, goods or installations of the employer should be authorized only on condition that the worker concerned could be clearly shown to be responsible for the loss or damage caused. It also recalls that, as explained in paragraphs 241–245 of the 2003 General Survey on the protection of wages, deductions in the form of fines are not explicitly provided for in either the Convention or the Recommendation as the text originally proposed on disciplinary fines faced considerable criticism during the discussions that led to the adoption of the two instruments and was finally deleted. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide additional explanations in this respect.