The Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal (ECCA) has partially upheld an appeal by West Indies Oil Company Limited (WIOC) regarding compensation awarded to two long-serving employees who were made redundant in 2018.
According to the report, the ECCA modified the substantial compensation packages previously awarded to Janis James and Bernadine Henry-Hughes by the Industrial Court, while affirming that their dismissals were handled unreasonably, despite being part of a legitimate restructuring exercise.
James, who was an accounts clerk for 27 years, and Henry-Hughes, who worked as an accounts foreman for 41 years, were terminated when their positions were eliminated following the company’s restructuring after the government became the majority shareholder.
While delivering the Court’s judgment, Justice Trevor Ward criticized WIOC’s approach to the redundancies, particularly noting the inadequate consultation with the workers’ union — the Antigua and Barbuda Trades and Labour Union – and insufficient consideration of alternative employment options for the long-serving employees.
“The company’s handling of the redundancy process fell short of good industrial relations practices,” stated Justice Ward.
He highlighted the company’s failure to provide adequate notice and its poor approach to selecting employees for redundancy.
However, the ECCA found that the original compensation awarded by the Industrial Court were excessive, especially given the lack of evidence that the former employees had attempted to find new employment.
The immediate lost compensation was reduced to six months’ salary for each employee, and a future loss award of $41,112 to Henry-Hughes was set aside.
The judgement, however, maintained awards for notice pay and fringe benefits, including health insurance coverage and cooking gas concessions, which were part of the employees’ original benefits package.