250 workers sent home from Buccament Bay Project

Two hundred and fifty construction workers on the Buccament Bay Resort Project who were dismissed earlier this week will be paid in full today.{{more}}

On Monday, July 19, 2010, Harlequin Hotel and Resorts wrote termination letters to some construction workers informing them that the company was ending their employment that day. The company has, however, confirmed that 600 construction workers remain on the project.

Earlier this week, some of the terminated workers told SEARCHLIGHT that the news hit them by surprise. They claim that while some workers left the premises without much fuss, others did not take their dismissal lightly and raged for various reasons.

One man told SEARCHLIGHT he was so upset that he was unable to read beyond the first paragraph of his letter.

When SEARCHLIGHT read his letter, it stated the company was processing the workers’ final wages which will be paid “in the normal manner on Friday, 23rd July”.

The letter also mentioned that Harlequin Hotel and Resorts will calculate any outstanding monies which the workers are entitled to. This will include notice pay (if applicable),

vacation pay due and any severance payment that the dismissed workers are entitled to.

This final payment was expected to be paid within six weeks of Monday, July 19.

But in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT last Tuesday afternoon, David Campion, Development Director, told SEARCHLIGHT the company had rescinded that decision and the terminated workers will be paid in full in a one off exercise today.

“Based on pleas from the staff for us to consider paying everything at once, we have now managed to secure that agreement and they will be paid in full on Friday (July 23),” said Campion.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the project on Tuesday, senior employees of Harlequin Developments – a one month old company contracted by Harlequin Hotel & Resorts to complete the project – provided answers to several issues that were of concern to some of the former workers.

Along with Campion, Kevin Webster, Project Director and Janell De Freitas, Human Resources Manager, sat and discussed the reason for decreasing the construction staff; the issue of salaries and other forms of compensation; future employment of construction workers and the projected date for the construction of Phase Two.

Addressing the issue of termination, Campion said the project is at a transition stage in which new hotel workers are being hired to handle the resort’s operations.

“This is a resort that we have set deadlines for. The first deadline is for (Phase One A) which is the thirteenth of August. The thirteenth of August signals a transition between construction site to live hotel resort. So we have had to mirror that transition with a transfer of jobs from construction staff to hotel staff,” said Campion.

He disclosed that last weekend, 300 persons were hired for the hotel staff and there are plans to employ an additional 250 persons before the end of the year.

“Unfortunately, the balance was that we, Harlequin Developments, had to release two hundred and fifty workers, construction workers,” said Campion.

He added: “As we open (Phase One A) and plan for the rest of Phase One and Phase Two, we will be assessing our staff again and we hope to be hiring again for Phase Two.”

Campion noted that the net gain for local employees at the resort is 300. He said if one compares the 250 relieved workers to the 550 that will be hired before the end of the year, then there is a net gain of 300.

“It was unfortunate because we know every worker has bills to pay, families to feed, and it was unfortunate that we had to come to that decision. But at the end of the day we are all interested in a viable business, so we have to balance the books to make sure this resort is delivered in a financially viable manner,” said Campion.

Webster told SEARCHLIGHT the cut was based on the stage that Harlequin Developments had reached with the project.

He said (Phase One A) is in the “finishing stages” and a soft opening will be taking place on August 13, 2010.

Webster said some of the workers who have been terminated will be given the opportunity to be re-hired with the company to complete the other phases, and there may be a chance for them to be employed at the resort when it is in full operation to do maintenance work.

The rest of Phase One is expected to be completed at the end of the year, while Phase Two is scheduled to commence in the earlier part of 2011.