Barbados is an island nation that has been inhabited since the 13th century by the indigenous Kalinago people. In recent years Barbados holds a place as a popular tourist haven due to its pristine beaches, architecture, and Caribbean cuisine that draws over 1 million visitors per year.

The minimum wage in Barbados is currently between BDS$6.25 - BDS$8.50 per hour. The standard work week is 40 hours at 8 hours per day. Every employee is entitled to 22 rest days a week (typically on Saturday and Sunday). However, these rest days can be timed on any two days at the employer’s discretion. Workers taking overtime should receive 150% of their salary rate during those extra hours.

_{Parental Leave}

Pregnant employees who have been employed for at least 1 year are entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave starting six weeks before delivery. If there are medical concerns after the birth, the employee may receive up to 6 more weeks for recovery (under the discretion of their doctor).

There’s no statutory paternity leave provided under Barbadian law. An employee may not receive maternity leave more than 3 times under with the same employer.

_{Sick Leave}

Barbados has few regulations around sick leave, so you can set any rules in your employment contract. Labor laws in Barbados dictate that a doctor must certify sick leave after 2 days of absence. You can choose to pay an employee when they use a sick day, but it’s not required. The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will cover sick pay after 3 days of absence (as long as the employee has contributed to the fund).

_{Paid Leave}

There are 11 public holidays and employees are entitled to double pay if they’re required to work on a public holiday. After working at a company for five months, employees are entitled to 3 weeks of paid time off (although an employer can postpone this for up to six months). After working at a company for 5 years they receive 4 weeks of paid time off. Employers are also obligated to permit employees to have paid leave for jury duty.

_Process

Employment contracts can be terminated as long as written notice is provided and a reasonable justification is provided. Otherwise, an employee who is deemed to have been unfairly terminated might have to be reinstated.

_{Notice Period}

Employees should be informed of a termination somewhere from one week to ten weeks in advance, depending on their tenure — otherwise payment can be made in lieu of notice.

• 5-10 years = 4 weeks notice
• 10-15 years = 6 weeks notice
• 15+ years = 10 weeks notice

_{Severance Pay}

Poor conduct, failure to perform tasks, and redundancy are all valid reasons for termination. Severance packages are not required in these scenarios, but the NIS will provide a package for redundancy and layoff scenarios.

The Barbadian Severance Payments Act states that employees who are terminated for reasons other than misconduct are entitled to severance benefits, provided they have been employed for at least 2 years.

In such scenarios, the severance paid would depend on the tenure of the employee:

• 1 - 10 years = 2.5 weeks pay per year
• 11 - 20 years = 3 weeks pay per year
• 21 - 33 years = 3.5 weeks pay per year

N/A