The Wages Regulations (Rights of Security Officers/Guards)

Security Officers/Guards (male or female) have the same rights and privileges under the Wages Regulation (Security Officers/Guards) Order 2024 as other workers under the various Orders.

According to the Wages Regulation, the minimum an employer shall pay a security officer/guard is $1,200. per month or $7.00 per hour. Simply put, if a security officer/guard is permanently employed and is fortnightly paid, he must be paid not less than $7.00 per hour or $1,200. per month. If the security officer/guard is employed on a casual or day to day basis, his minimum wage must be $52.20 for an 8-hour, or $7.00 per hour or part thereof. It is incorrect to use the $1,200. monthly rate to calculate the daily rate for a fortnightly paid security officer/guard.

A security officer/guard’s normal hours of work are 8 hours per day, six days per week i.e. forty-eight hours per week. If the security officer/guard is assigned to night duty, his normal hours of work shall not exceed twelve hours. Where a security officer/guard is scheduled to work 12- hour night shifts, the normal shift must not exceed four 12-hours i.e. 48 hours per week.

There is a misconception that the normal hours of a security officer/guard are six 8-hour day shifts per week, or six 12-hours night shifts. That is incorrect. Where a security officer/guard is required to work beyond 48 hours per week, day or night, he is eligible for overtime pay.

Vacation Leave. A security officer/guard is entitled to vacation leave with pay as follows: fourteen working days for 1 year to 2 years’ service. Eighteen working days for 3 years to 5 years’ service, and twenty-one working days for 6 years and over service. The regulation also states that if a security officer/guard is terminated during the second year of employment, the employer must pay the security officer/agent for proportionate part of the vacation due to him at the time of the termination.

Sick leave. Security officers/guards are also entitled to paid sick leave. According to the Wages Regulation 2024, security officers/guards after having worked for six months, are entitled to seven days’ paid sick leave. Between one year of service to five years, security officers/guards are entitled to 14 calendar days’ sick leave. Six years and over, 21 calendar days’ sick leave. It is important to note that this entitlement covers certified i.e. leave authorised by a medical practitioner and, uncertified i.e. when the employee calls in sick but did not visit a doctor. If a security officer/guard undergoes surgical or therapeutic care or is confined for a medical reason by a qualified doctor, he shall be eligible to 30 calendar days’ sick leave.

There is a misconception that the employer is not bound to pay employees sick leave. Therefore, there are cases where employees only receive sixty-five percent of their estimated weekly wage from the National Insurance Services. This is incorrect, once the employee is qualified for sick leave and submitted the sick certificate on time, the employer is responsible for thirty-five percent of the employee’s estimated weekly pay. Furthermore, the employer is responsible for the full payment of the first three days of sick leave.

Thomas Jefferson said “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
All managers with responsibility for employees should be familiar with the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Protection of Employment Act, 2003 and the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Statutory Rules and Orders 2024. It is also important for employees to know the law for themselves. There is a six-year statute of limitations on unfair payment. This means that past and present employees who were unfairly compensated have up to six years to make a claim for unfair payment. To avoid liability, it is important for employers to know the law and operate within the ambit of it. There is more to lose from withholding from employees what is rightfully theirs. Once employees are in the know, this always leads to employee disengagement, and disengaged employees are counter- productive and sabotage an organization’s progress. So, protect your organization’s asset and reputation by knowing the law and operating within it.

Join us again next week as we explore the Wages Regulation (Industrial Workers) Order 2024.

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