Belize © Copyright Lex Mundi Ltd.

2010

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT DESK BOOK

BELIZE
Barrow & Williams Attorneys-At-Law

CONTACT INFORMATION
Tania Moody
Barrow & Williams Attorneys-at-Law
22.75280
[email protected]

1. Do you have a plant closing law in your jurisdiction and if so, what does it require?
(For U.S. jurisdictions, please answer: Is there a Baby WARN Act in your state and if so,
what does it require?)

We have the Factories Act, Chapter 296 of the Laws of Belize. Section 6: Every existing
factory and every new factory shall be registered as provided Section 8.-(1) Not later than
fourteen days after the date of the coming into operation of this Act, every person who is the
owner, manager or person having the control of any existing factory, shall apply to the Chief
Factory Inspector to have such factory registered as an existing factory:

Provided that in the case of any existing factory the erection of which is not completed at the
date of the coming into force of this Act, the Chief Factory Inspector may extend the time for
application for such further period not exceeding ten weeks, as he may think fit for by this
Act.

Section 15: The Chief Factory Inspector at any time on being satisfied that any factory
registered under this Act has ceased to be operated as a factory, may cancel the registration of
the factory.

2. Are there special rules on releases/waivers in your jurisdiction?

None.
Belize © Copyright Lex Mundi Ltd. 2010

3. What are the equal employment opportunity/ non-discrimination categories in your

jurisdiction (For U.S. jurisdictions, please answer: Are there protected categories
beyond Title VII in your state?)

"Section 15 of the Belize Constitution, Chapter 4 of the Laws of Belize .

(1) No person shall be denied the opportunity to gain his living by work
which he freely chooses or accepts, whether by pursuing a profession or occupation or by
engaging in a trade or business, or otherwise.
(2) It shall not be inconsistent with subsection (1) of this section to require, as a condition for
embarking upon or continuing work, the payment of
professional fees, trade or business licence fees, or similar charges, or the possession of
appropriate licences or qualifications.
Section 16 of the Belize Constitution: Subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (5) and (7)
of this section, no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its
effect.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsections (6), (7) and (8) of this section, no person shall be
treated in a discriminatory manner by any person or
authority.
(3) In this section, the expression ?discriminatory? means affording different treatment to
different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by sex, race,
place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed whereby persons of one such description
are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not
made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of
another such description."

4. What are the minimum wage and overtime rules (and exemptions) in your jurisdiction?

Section 115 of the Labour Act, Chapter 297 of the Laws of Belize: No worker shall be
obliged to work on any public holiday or on any Sunday, if Sunday is the agreed rest day, or
other agreed rest day substituted for a Sunday by agreement between an employer or an
organisation of employers, on the one hand, and a worker or organisation of workers, on the
other hand, entered into not less than seven days before such rest day is taken.
Section 116.-(1) No worker shall be obliged to work on more than six days in any week or for
more than nine hours of actual work in any day or forty-five hours of actual work in any
week. (2) The gross weekly wages of workers shall not be reduced as a result of the reduction
of the maximum weekly working hours and any overtime hours shall be calculated by using
the gross weekly wages for a forty-five hour week as the ordinary rate of pay
Section 118.-(1) If any worker works for and at the request of his employer on a public
holiday or a Sunday or other agreed rest day or for more than nine
hours in any day or forty-five hours in any week, he shall be paid wages for such extra work
at the following rates-
(a) on Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Monday - at a rate of not less than double his
ordinary rate of pay;
(b) on public holidays other than those set out in paragraph (a) hereof - at a rate of not less
than one and one-half times his ordinary rate of pay;
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(c) on Sundays or other agreed rest days - at a rate of not less than one and one-half times his
ordinary rate of pay; and
(d) for hours worked in excess of nine hours in any day or fortyfive hours in any week - at a
rate of not less than one and onehalf times his ordinary rate of pay.
(2) In the case of workers remunerated by the piece or by the task and who are subject to
continuous supervision, the expression ordinary rate of pay shall for the purposes of this
section be deemed to be the piece-rate or the task-rate.

5. Is there employment-at-will, or some other rule, in your jurisdiction? What are the
exceptions?

"Section 2 of the Labour Act, Chapter 297 of the Laws of Belize : “worker” means any person
who has entered into or works under a contract with an employer whether the contract be-
(a) for manual labour, clerical work or otherwise;
(b) expressed or implied;
(c) oral or in writing; or
(d) a contract of service or of apprenticeship
26.-(1) In Parts V, VI and VII, the expression “contract of service” means any agreement
between employer and worker by which the latter works under
the authority and direction of the employer (even if not under his direct supervision) in return
for remuneration fixed according to the hours of work,
or at piece or task rates.
(2) Contracts of service may be-
(a) expressed or implied;
(b) oral or written;
(c) individual or collective; and
(d) for a definite or indefinite period.
THE EXCEPTIONS Section 71. No child or young person shall be recruited, but the
Commissioner may in his discretion permit a young person who has attained the age of
sixteen years to be recruited with the consent of his parents or guardians for employment upon
such light work and subject to such conditions as he may endorse upon any memorandum
required to be furnished to a recruited worker.
54.-(1) A child shall not be capable of entering into a contract.
(2) A young person shall not be capable of entering into a contract except for employment in
an occupation approved by a labour officer as not being injurious to the moral or physical
development of non-adults.
161.-(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Part, no person shall employ during the night,
in a public or private industrial undertaking-
(a) a woman; or
(b) a person under the age of eighteen years.
(2) If a person is employed in contravention of subsection (1), the employer and any person
(other than the person employed) to whose act
or default the contravention is attributable commits an offence and is liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.
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162.-(1) Section 161, with respect to the employment of women during the night, shall not
apply-
(a) to women holding responsible positions of a managerial or
technical character;
(b) to women employed in health and welfare services who are
not ordinarily engaged in manual work;
(c) to an industrial undertaking in which only members of the same
family are employed;
(d) in any case of force majeure when in an industrial undertaking
there occurs an interruption of work which it was impossible to foresee, and which is not of a
recurring character, and which
is approved as such by the Commissioner; and
(e) in a case where the work has to do with raw materials or
materials in the course of treatment which are subject to rapid
deterioration and work during the night is necessary to preserve
such materials from loss and the permission of the Commissioner
to perform such work during the night has been obtained."

6. What are the legal obligations upon terminating an employee in your jurisdiction?

46.-(1) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Part, an employer may dismiss the
worker and the worker may abandon service of the employer, without giving notice and
without any liability to make payment as provided in sections 43 and 44 if there is good and
sufficient cause for such dismissal or
abandonment of service:
Provided that an employer may not set up as a good and sufficient cause that the worker at the
time of the dismissal was a member of a trade union.
(2) Good and sufficient cause for dismissal without giving notice shall include dismissal-
(a) when a worker is guilty of misconduct, whether in the course of his duties or not,
inconsistent with the fulfillment of the express or implied conditions of his contract of
service;
(b) for wilful disobedience to lawful orders given by the employer
(c) for lack of skill which the employee expressly or by implication warrants himself to
possess;
(d) for habitual or substantial neglect of his duties;
(e) for absence from work without permission of the employer or without other reasonable
excuse.
Section 57 : A contract shall be terminated-
(a) by the expiry of the period for which it was made; or
(b) by the death of the employer or worker before the expiry of the term for which it was
made.
(2) The termination of a contract by the death of the worker shall be without prejudice to the
legal claims of his legal personal representative.
(3) If the employer is unable to fulfil a contract or if owing to sickness or accident the worker
is unable to fulfil the contract, the contract may be terminated with the consent of the
Commissioner subject to conditions safeguarding the right of the worker to wages earned, any
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deferred pay due to him, any compensation due to him in respect of accident or disease, and
his right to repatriation.
(4) A contract may be terminated by agreement between the parties with the consent of the
Commissioner subject to conditions safeguarding the worker from the loss of his right to
repatriation unless the agreement for the termination of the contract otherwise provides and to
the Commissioner being satisfied-
(a) that the worker has freely consented to the termination and that his consent has not been
obtained by coercion or undue influence or as the result of misrepresentation or mistake; and
(b) that all monetary liabilities between the parties have been settled.
(5) A contract, other than a contract to perform some specific work without reference to time,
may be terminated by either party giving to the other, notice of such termination in
accordance with the terms of the contract; the minimum requirements of which shall be-
(a) where the duration is for more than one month the period of notice shall be not less than
fourteen days and may be given
only after the expiry of the first month of employment; or
(b) where the duration is for one month or less the period of notice
shall not be less than seven days:

7. Are there any family and/or medical leave laws in your jurisdiction, and if so, what do
they require? (For U.S. jurisdictions, please answer: Are there family and/or medical
leave laws in your state beyond FMLA and if so, what do they require?)

Yes there are medical leave laws in the form of the Labour Act. Section 131.
(1) Where any worker who has been employed by the same employer for an aggregate period
of not less than sixty days in the preceding twelve months falls ill while in the employment of
the said employer, and the illness was not caused by his own default or misconduct, the
employer shall grant to the said worker, at his request, sick leave with pay for a period of up
to sixteen working days in any twelve months and the employer shall pay the worker in
respect of any such period of sick leave at the rate corresponding to his total remuneration
over the last sixteen days of his employment with him.
(2) Where the worker, if required to do so by the employer, fails within forty-eight hours of
such written request to produce a certificate from a registered medical practitioner certifying
to his illness and the duration thereof, he shall not be entitled to sick leave with pay.
(3) In the absence of agreement, no worker shall be entitled to claim sick leave with pay for
more than sixteen days in any period of twelve months.

8. Please list any miscellaneous, interesting or oddball laws in your jurisdiction, and state
under what circumstances they pertain.

None.

9. Does your jurisdiction have a law requiring employers to give employees access to, or a
copy of, their personnel records?

No.
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10. Does your jurisdiction outlaw or restrict drug tests, alcohol tests, genetic tests or any
other kind of testing?

No.

11. Does your jurisdiction have any special rules on the payment of sales commissions?

No special rules.

12. What are the basic rules on enforcing non-competes and related agreements in your
jurisdiction?

Common Law principles. If there is a breach of contract by a breach of a non-compete clause,

then the claimant may enforce his rights to damages for breach of contract in a court of law.,
i.e. the supreme court.