Employment Minister, Agni Deo Singh.

Over millions of dollars in short payments and wage theft are owed to employees that have been accumulating over many years.

Expressing his disappointment, Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh confirms several cases are now before the courts, as they are taking this matter seriously.

The Minster has also revealed that these cases are mostly stemming from the private sector.

He adds a rigorous inspection is being carried out by the Employment Ministry to ensure all employees are paid fairly.

“There are some that we have settled, and we are now doing our inspections thoroughly to make sure that wages are paid in the proper manner. Not only wages, but other related allowances, overtime, and the rest of it.”

Singh says they’ve noticed a trend that many employees are working beyond the normal eight hours but only get standard pay.

“It is common that some employers will just make people work for 12 hours and don’t pay overtime; they just pay for the normal pay. They’ll not pay the allowances until workers have reported.”

Singh adds the Ministry is also working on clearing the backlog of cases.

“But we continue to pursue; we have our own legal team, and we continue to prosecute. I believe that we were not pursuing it as vigorously as we should have. And there are employers out there that are unscrupulous.”

The Employment Minister is cautioning employers to ensure fairness and transparency in employee pay.