Chairman of Itel BPO Yoni Epstein says there needs to be changes in the country's industrial relations laws, which were enacted in the 1970s.
This, he claims, is necessary to protect the interests of both workers and investors.
He claims a revision of the relevant legislation would help to drive more investments, productivity and foreign exchange earnings in the knowledge process outsourcing sector, asserting that Jamaican workers are more competitive than their international counterparts.
There have been various complaints labour relations practices in the BPO sector, with working conditions, the nature of contracts and lack of union representation being among the main complaints of workers.
Two of the most far-reaching pieces of labour legislation in the 1970s were the Labour Relations & Industrial Disputes Act [LRIDA] of 1975 and the Employment Termination & Redundancy Payment Act, passed in 1974.
Among its many provisions, the LRIDA gave legal recognition to the right of workers to trade union representation and established the Industrial Disputes Tribunal to hear their grievances and make relevant rulings.
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