Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 13, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
The government has a right to not renew contracts. But why would any government want to simply claim such a right as the basis of justifying why large numbers of persons have been relieved of their jobs.
In other words, simply because one has a right to not renew a contract does not mean that the contract should not be renewed.
There has to be some basis, and it should be a rational basis for not renewing a contract. It is never politically correct of prudent for someone to simply claim a right of non-renewal without there being some basis for the non-renewal.
Guyana is a badly divided country and when soon after a change in administration, large numbers of persons are going to be removed from their jobs and replaced by others, it does raise certain troubling issues.
Therefore it is not advisable for any administration to simply defend contractual non-renewal on the basis of there is not no legal obstacle to doing do.
The issue is not legality. The issue is propriety. There have been allegations by the opposition that a great many of the non-renewal of contracts were politically motivated. This is why there should be just grounds for the non-renewal of a contract.
Civilization has passed the stage where someone can claim that because he has a right to fire that he does not have to give a reason or even have basis for letting someone one go. If this is the state of affairs which exists, then it will have an impact on the morale of all workers because they simply will not know whether their future will be the subject of a lottery or someone’s whim and fancy.
When people take a job they would like to have some assurance that they will be treated fairly. They will like to feel that if they work hard there will be some rewards either in the form of promotion of retention. The fact that someone is a contract employee and therefore can be terminated with notice does not mean that workers should not be provided with the reasonable grounds for the non-renewal of their contracts.
In a fair system everyone, except political appointees, should have an expectation that once they are performing satisfactorily and once there is no redundancy of the position they hold, then their contract should be renewed. If the person is not performing satisfactorily, then the person should be shown where he or she has fallen short of expectations and should be given reasons for any explanations.
A contract employee has no legal basis to challenge those reasons other than for breach of contract. This however should not mean that a person’s contract should not be renewed without just cause.
There have been large numbers of public employees who have been sent home by the present administration. In a country as politically and racially divided like Guyana it is always going to be a problem if these things happen without just cause and more so if the persons let go are replaced by others.
The opposition, however, has to do its homework. They have to establish that persons were unfairly removed from positions within the government so that they could be replaced by more politically favored candidates. The opposition simply cannot shout discrimination from the rooftops without the evidence. They have to prove that this has been the case.
The opposition should compile a dossier of persons who were either dismissed or not had their contract renewed since May 11. They should then prepare a separate list of those employed. These lists should be made public so that the government can defend the dismissals or the non-renewal of contracts.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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