BONAIRE, ST. EUSTATIUS and SABA (BES Islands) – Effective January 1, 2017 a new policy rule imposing fines regarding lost wages laws in the BES will be put into force.
This policy states that an employer can be fined if they do not comply with the rules that are set in the Law Sickness Insurance BES (Wet ziekteverzekering) or the Law Accidents Insurance BES (Wet ongevallenverzekering BES).
Both Acts govern that a fine may be imposed in the following situations:
The employer neglects to pay the employee a benefit that is equal to the wage loss benefits, or fails to do so in a timely fashion;
The employer is unable to provide forms for reporting an accident or illness within the framework of both BES Acts;
The employer does not forward a copy of a completed and signed accident or illness form to the employee, even if the employee is confined to bed;
The employer fully or partially deducts the costs deriving from the Acts from the salary of the employee;
The employer does not supply or submit necessary and requested information to the RCN-unit Social Affairs and Employment (including the Labour Inspection);
The employer does not meet the requirement of following instructions for the purpose of implementing the law.
The penalty will be imposed by the head of the RCN-unit Social Affairs and Employment on behalf of the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. The amount of the fine depends on the number of employees the employer holds, and the extent to which an offense occurs more often (either simultaneously or consecutively in time).
More concretely, the tariff norms for the penalties are as follows:
- For employers with more than 20 employees: $1,400;
- For employers with 10 to 20 employees: $1,050;
- For employers with 5 to 9 employees: $700;
- For employers with fewer than 5 employees: $350.
In case of repeat offences (either simultaneously or consecutively in time), the fine will be higher, up to a maximum fine of $2800. When calculating fines, only infringements found from the effective date of this policy will be taken into account. Violations that occurred before January 1, 2017, however, may be taken into consideration when determining the gravity of the offence and the culpability.
The imposition of a fine is not always a given outcome. The head of the RCN-unit Social Affairs and Employment may decide to suffice with a warning. In this case the seriousness of the offense and the culpability will be considered beforehand.
The imposition of penalties is governed by the policy rule boeteoplegging loondervingswetten BES. The policy rule was published on August 16, 2016 in the State Publication (Staatscourant) 2016, no. 43020. Visit www.Rijksdienstcn.com for the official publication.
