Employers in the Territory have been urged to pay attention to Sections 53 and 54 of the Labour Code for the upcoming holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday. Photo: GIS

Section 53 of the Labour Code states, “Where an employee does not work for his or her employer on a public holiday, he or she shall not suffer loss of pay, that is to say, he or she shall be paid the basic wage he or she would have received for the work performed on that day, had it not been a public holiday, provided that:

(a) he or she worked on his or her scheduled workday immediately before and his or her scheduled workday immediately after the said public holiday; and

(b) the public holiday was not one of his or her scheduled workdays.

54. (1) Where an employer causes an employee to work on a public holiday, the employer shall pay to the employee, in addition to the basic wage the employee is entitled to by virtue of section 53, a basic hourly rate of at least one and one-half times his or her basic wage for each hour worked on that day.  

The Department of Labour and Workforce Development continues to promote good labour and management practices at workplaces to ensure stable and harmonious labour relations between employers and employees, and to protect the rights, wages, working conditions, safety, health and welfare of workers through enforcement of the British Virgin Islands Labour Laws.