The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has denied reports that it intends to send home workers in an “involuntarily separate” programme.
BTC chief executive officer, Garfield Sinclair, said reports in the media regarding the company’s employees do not “represent the position of BTC.
“The company again emphatically denies any plans to involuntarily separate from any of its employees, so any claims to the contrary are baseless and without foundation,” he said in a statement.
Sinclair said that as part of the BTC’s commitment to evolution and progress, it is commitment to its staff by mentioning the recently instituted increased time for maternity and paternity leave.
“As a progressive organization in an intensely competitive environment, BTC’s operating model will continue to evolve in order to provide our customers with a differentiating customer experience as cost efficiently as possible.
“This means aligning our people, processes and procedures with our ultimate goal of providing the best and most reliable connectivity at competitive prices to our customers throughout The Bahamas; delivering moments that matter.”
Sinclair said that the company is focused on maintaining a culture of high performance and improving the welfare of its employees.
“Last month, we introduced an eight-week paid paternity leave, just in time for Father’s Day. No other company in the country provides fathers with eight weeks of paid paternity leave. We also increased maternity leave to sixteen weeks, one month better than the nation’s standard twelve-week leave. Colleagues becoming parents through adoption and surrogacy now receive eight weeks of paid leave, all in an effort to provide more time for our parents to bond with their new borns.”
Sinclair said that the company takes its role as a public institution here “very seriously and accordingly ensure that we conduct our affairs in strict compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, which includes consultations with our union partners and discussions with our team members. “
The chief executive officer said that the company is in the process of finalizing an industrial agreement with the union “that will serve the interests of all stakeholders.
“We also recently completed the terms of an industrial agreement with the BCPOU that had been outstanding for more than two years,” he added.
