Get out there and work and Gov’t offices should set the pace
Linton P. Gordon
The debate taking place on the proposed Flexible Work Week Law gives a clear indication that we are yet to develop a true ethic of hard work and sacrifice. That there should be resistance to us working seven days per week is a clear indication that we are not yet ready to exploit and utilize all our resources.
The main objective of the Flexible Work Week Law is to allow for employers and employees to agree the times and days they will work and the times and days they will receive time off. When properly implemented and enforced, Flexi Work Week can result in most, if not all, business places and Government Departments being open to the public during the seven days of the week.
There is no reason why the banks, the post offices and the Collector of Taxes (tax offices) for example should not be opened on Saturdays and Sundays. There is no reason for us to close factories and other centres of production on Saturdays and on Sundays while at the same time acknowledging the urgent need for increased production, in order for us to advance to First World Status. In the very wealthy and rich United States of America, most business places are opened seven days per week. One can attend the bank on a Sunday in the United States of America and transact business. Those banks take that approach in order to provide more accessibility to their customers and to enhance their profit margin.
Several of our factories in Jamaica are closed for the weekend, that is to say, Saturdays and Sundays. There are many workers who do not have any religious commitments that would prevent them from working on Saturday and Sundays. These workers should be allowed to take their “weekends” or days off or their “days of worship” on, say, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then be allowed to work on Saturday and Sundays.
RIGHT TO WORSHIP
I believe that all citizens should have their constitutional rights to exercise their belief in a religion. This is a fundamental principle that we should protect. However, we should not confuse protecting Constitutional rights with imposing the belief of one set of citizens on other citizens.
In declaring Sunday to be the day of worship in Jamaica, we are violating the Constitutional Rights of the Adventist and other religious groups who hold Saturdays as their day of worship. There should be no national day of worship. Each religious group or each citizen should select a day of worship and the employer, including the Government, should allow each employee a day off for the day of worship selected.
We should do all we can to maintain Jamaica as a secular State, that is to say, a State that does not impose a religious regime on citizens, irrespective of their views. We only have to look at what is happening in the Middle East to see what devastation religious fanaticism can cause to a country, including the very believers of the religion.
There are several persons and organizations in Jamaica that work and operate seven days per week. Many of us were brought up by parents who worked seven days per week including their day of worship when they would attend church, get back home, change into working cloths and headed out in the field to tend to their animals and their crops.
There are also shopkeepers who would open their shops for business after church service and they too worked seven days per week.
There are instances when members of the security forces work for long and difficult hours, non-stop because of the operation they are involved in. They dare not walk off the job on the basis that they have done forty (40) hours for the week.
The Government should take the lead by opening the post offices, the Tax Offices, the Registrar General Department and the Courts, in particular the Resident Magistrate’s Courts, seven days per week thereby providing more access to citizens. If the judge is a Sunday worshiper then have a Sabbath worshiper preside on Sundays. (Blurb)
Members of the Legal Profession should support the Flexi Work Week and in particular should support the Court offices being opened seven days per week.
If the Flexi Work Week concept is properly implemented, it will provide increased usage of the limited resources we have. It will increase our productivity and contribute towards our efforts to bring Jamaica into the club of First World Countries.
