Jamaica
Knowledge Base
Frequently asked question, important data and information on EOR.
General information
$ 9000 JMD per week
Labor Law
Laws that regulate Labor Relationship
Jamaica Labour Laws:
• Holidays with Pay Act
• The Employment (Termination and Redundancy Payments) Act
• The Minimum Wage Act
• The Public General Holidays Act
Onboarding guide
Requirements for a labor contract
• Employee’s name
• Employee’s address
• Employer’s name
• Start date
• Probation period
• Job position
• Job description
• Monthly gross salary
• Sign date
• Employer’s representative
Pre-hire Medical exam
No
Types of contracts
• Indefinite
• Fixed-term
Probation Period
No statutory regulation on the length of the trial period, it depends on the agreement between employer and employee. Collective agreements generally stipulate probationary periods from 3 months to 6 months.
Are offer letters mandatory in the country?
Mandatory
Are digital signatures in labor contracts valid?
Permitted, but customary (wet ink preferred)
Mandatory onboarding documents
• ID card
• National insurance record
Statutory benefits
Annual Bonus
Doesn’t Apply
Additional bonus
Doesn’t apply
Leaves (medical, maternity, paternity, etc.)
• Maternity Leave: 12 weeks of maternity leave once one year of service has been completed. This is paid for eight weeks at the regular salary rate, at the moment there is no paternity leave.
• Sick leave: Under the Holidays with Pay Order (1973) workers are entitled to ten (10) days sick leave per year.
Annual Leave (days per year)
Employees are entitled to paid vacation leave, there is a minimum requirement of 110 days to be entitled to vacation leave.
Legally, employees will accumulate 1 day every 22 days worked from the date of employment for a total 10 annual vacation days to employees who have worked up to 10 years, and 15 annual vacation days to employees who have worked for more than 10 years.
How do vacation days expire?
In some cases, employers may allow employees to carry over a portion of their unused annual leave to the following year.
This carryover policy may vary depending on the employer’s discretion or the terms outlined in the employment contract or collective agreement.
Official Holidays
• 1 Jan, New Year’s Day
• 2 Jan, New Year Holiday
• 22 Feb, Ash Wednesday
• 7 Apr, Good Friday
• 10 Apr, Easter Monday
• 23 May, Labour Day
• 1 Aug, Emancipation Day
• 6 Aug, Independence Day
• 7 Aug, Independence Day Holiday
• 16 Oct, National Heroes Day
• 25 Dec, Christmas Day
• 26 Dec, Boxing Day
Working on holidays and Sundays
Paid at 100% extra on top of the regular wage.
Number of Working hours
8 to 12 hours a day, up to 40 hours a week.
Overtime
Paid at 100% extra on top of the regular wage.
Social Security (what does it cover)
• Maternity Allowance
• Special Child Benefits
• Orphan Benefit
• Employment Injury Benefit
• Employment Injury Disablement Benefit
• Employment Injury Death Benefit
• Invalidity Benefit
• Retirement Pension
• Spouse Allowance
• Widow’s/Widower’s Benefit
• Special Anniversary
• Funeral Grant
• Grant
• NI Gold
Payroll
Salary payment currency
Jamaican Dollar (JMD)
Can salary be paid in a different currency other than the local currency?
Yes, in USD
Payment frequency
Monthly or Semi- monthly
VAT percentage
The standard rate of GCT is currently 15%; however, higher or lower rates of GCT are applicable to certain goods and services
Income Tax
Individuals are generally liable to income tax at the rate of 25% on their chargeable income (not exceeding JMD 6 million per annum) less an annual tax-free threshold (where applicable). Chargeable income derived in excess of JMD 6 million per annum is subject to income tax at a rate of 30%. For more information see https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/jamaica/individual/taxes-on-personal-income
Tax Payer Identification Number
Tax Payer Registration Number – (TRN)
Offboarding
Voluntary resignation
When an employee decides to resign voluntarily, there are several considerations and rules to be aware of:
1. Notice Period: The employee is generally required to provide a notice period to the employer before resigning. The length of the notice period may be specified in the employment contract or determined by the relevant labor laws. Typically, the notice period is one month, but it may vary depending on the circumstances and the terms of the employment agreement.
2. Written Notice: The resignation should be communicated in writing to the employer. It is recommended to submit a formal resignation letter stating the intention to resign, the effective date of resignation, and any other relevant details.
Contract termination
The contract may be terminated, with prior notice and written explanation may be for business, personal, employee misconduct, or fortuitous events like the death of the employer or employee.
Justified Dismissal
For the purposes of the law, dismissal is considered by reason of redundancy if it is attributable wholly or partly to:
• Employer having ceased to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed
• Employee´s particular work having ceased or diminished
• Employee having suffered personal injury caused by an accident arising in the course of his
employment, or having developed a professional disease.
A seasonal employee who has worked for an employer for two or more consecutive seasons is considered to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if circumstances mentioned before occur or if he is not employed in future seasons.
For personal reasons (loss of trust and confidence) the Court of Appeal states that as the Company made a reasonable payment in lieu of notice, it was not obliged to justify its assertion that it had lost confidence in the employee.
Unjustified Dismissal
No statutory definition of unfair dismissal. However, when addressing this item, a key aspect to consider is that in Jamaica, two Institutions can rule on dismissals:
• Judicial Power (Resident Magistrate, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court) have jurisdiction to hear claims and grant relief (damages) in respect of wrongful dismissal (breach of contract, employer not following its own termination procedure, employer not respecting limited grounds for dismissal when included in employment contract–based on common law).
• The Industrial Disputes Tribunal (hereinafter IDT) has jurisdiction to attend claims in respect of unfair dismissal -the 2010 amendment of LRIDA clarifies that plaintiffs do not need to belong to a trade-union to
seek relief before IDT. As from the amendment, IDT is the only Tribunal who has jurisdiction to hear claims related to unfair/ unjustified dismissals and issue reinstatement orders (The Court attends cases of
wrongful or unlawful dismissals and orders the payment of damages).
Severance pay is legally required for redundancy cases for employees with 104 weeks tenure (2 years).
Redundancy payment amounts to:
• 2 weeks’ pay per year, for the first ten years;
• 3 weeks´ pay per year, from the tenth year onwards.
Minimum Notice Period
The notice period to be given to an employee who has been continuously employed for 4 weeks or more is of:
Length of Employment Minimum Advance Notice
• Less than 5 years 2 weeks
• More than 5 years and up to 10 years 4 weeks
• More than 10 years and up to 15 years 6 weeks
• More than 15 years and up to 20 years 8 weeks
• More than 20 years 12 weeks
Pay in lieu of notice is acceptable.
(Section 3, subsection 1 ETRPA)
Immigration
Visa process
• Employers must submit the work permit application to the Department of work Permits of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
• A non-refundable processing fee is also required to be paid in addition to the application.
• When the work permit Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security approves the permit the applicant will pay A fee depending on the duration of the permit.
Visa documents
Work visas are issued solely on the basis of evidence of a confirmed job offer. Documentation to be presented on application in this regard are:
• Valid national passport
• Original letter from organization affirming job offer
• Original work permit approval signed by or on behalf of the Minister of Labour, and
• Completed visa application form accompanied by one (1) passport-size photograph
•Visa fee
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