More than $71 million has been recovered for workers so far this year following interventions by the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, with disputes over wages and severance accounting for the largest shares.
Subject Minister Keoma Griffith disclosed the figure on Tuesday while addressing a Conditions of Work Labour Seminar for workers in the oil and gas sector. He said labour officers had closed more than 550 complaints during the year.
The recovery already exceeds the annual amounts recorded in each of the previous three years: $36.6 million in 2025, $31.7 million in 2024 and $69 million in 2023.
However, Griffith said his preference was for employers to meet their obligations without workers having to seek the ministry’s intervention.
“I would be a happy minister if I learn that tomorrow, nobody is making a complaint about having outstanding wages, because it would then mean that we are truly achieving industrial relations in a way that we want to achieve it,” he said.
Chief Labour Officer Aslim Singh explained that the money recovered mainly involved wages and severance payments.
Wages accounted for 46 per cent of the total, followed by severance at 30 per cent. Annual leave represented 9.9 per cent, notice pay 9.7 per cent and overtime four per cent.
Singh identified security firms as the leading defaulters, highlighting a recurring problem for labour officials.
The sector had also drawn criticism from former Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, who said in January 2025 that some security companies changed their names after failing to pay workers. He indicated then that the ministry had been pursuing companies through the courts.
Complaints handled by the Labour Department have included unpaid termination benefits, unlawful salary deductions, outstanding overtime, failure to pay the minimum wage, annual leave entitlements and severance.
Alongside resolving complaints, the department has conducted almost 3,200 workplace inspections so far this year to assess employers’ compliance with labour laws.
