Know your rights

The national minimum wage is TT$20.50 per hour (since 1 January 2024). Whatever your job, your pay divided by your hours must not fall below this rate, unless a sector Wage Order sets a higher one.

If you earn up to about TT$30.75 an hour, you are also covered by statutory overtime: 1.5 times your rate for the first 4 extra hours, 2 times for the next 4, and 3 times beyond that. Work on a rest day or public holiday is paid at 2 times your hourly rate for the first 8 hours, then 3 times. Above that earnings level, overtime depends on your contract.

You should receive a payslip showing your hours, rate and deductions.

Maternity leave: if you have 12 months' continuous service, you are entitled to 14 weeks' maternity leave under the Maternity Protection Act: one month at full pay and the balance at half pay. NIS maternity benefit may also be payable. It is unlawful to dismiss or disadvantage you because you are pregnant or on maternity leave.

Vacation and sick leave: there is no single national minimum. Your entitlement comes from your contract, a collective agreement, or a sector Minimum Wages Order. Catering, shop and household workers are entitled to two weeks' paid vacation after 12 months (if at least 220 days were worked) and 14 working days' sick leave a year after six months' continuous employment. The employer pays the difference between the worker's normal pay and their NIS sickness benefit. A medical certificate is needed for any illness longer than two days.

Severance: if you are retrenched (made redundant) with more than one completed year of continuous service (Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act, sections 3 and 18), you are entitled to severance based on your basic pay: two weeks' pay (or half a month if monthly paid) for each of the first four years, and three weeks' pay (or three-quarters of a month) for each year from the fifth year onwards. Part years are pro-rated. Statutory severance is exempt from income tax up to TT$500,000.

Notice: where five or more workers are retrenched, your employer must give 45 days' written notice to you, your recognised majority union and the Minister of Labour, and you continue to receive full pay until the end date.

Unfair dismissal: the Industrial Court can find a dismissal harsh and oppressive even where you were at fault, if the process was unfair. You are entitled to know the allegation against you and to be heard before a decision is made.

The Equal Opportunity Act protects you from discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, marital status and disability, in hiring, terms and conditions, and dismissal. Complaints go to the Equal Opportunity Commission, and unresolved matters can reach the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

It is also unlawful for an employer to victimise you because you made or supported a complaint.

Every employer, whatever its size, must ensure your safety, health and welfare at work so far as is reasonably practicable, and must carry out an annual written risk assessment. Workplaces with 25 or more employees must have a safety and health committee. Serious accidents must be reported to the OSH Agency.

If you are injured at work, NIS Employment Injury Benefit can pay for up to 52 weeks, with no minimum contribution requirement: you only need to be in insurable employment.

Usually, yes. If you are an employee in insurable employment, your employer must register you with the NIBTT, deduct your employee share from your wages and pay the full contribution to the NIBTT. The employer pays its own share as well and cannot take that share from your wages.

This generally applies from the start of employment, including during probation, whether your job is full-time, part-time, temporary or casual. Paid apprentices, domestic workers and casual agricultural workers are also included. Unpaid apprentices must be registered, with the employer paying the applicable contribution.

Age rules: employees aged 16 to under 65 normally share contributions with the employer. For an employee under 16 or aged 65 and over, no NIS is deducted from wages, but the employer still pays the Class Z contribution for employment injury coverage. The same Class Z rule applies to a worker aged 60 to under 65 who is receiving NIS Retirement Benefit and returns to work.

NIS applies from low earnings. NIS Class I, the lowest class, covers weekly earnings of TT$200 to TT$339.99 (monthly earnings of TT$867 to TT$1,472.99). If you earn TT$200 a week or more, contributions must be paid for you, even if your wages are small.

If your earnings are below TT$200 per week, below NIS Class I, or you are unsure whether an exemption applies, ask the NIBTT to confirm your position. A job title such as "contract", "temporary" or "casual" does not by itself remove NIS coverage.

Your NIS contributions fund sickness benefit, maternity benefit and grant, invalidity benefit, retirement pension or grant, survivors' benefit, a funeral grant, and employment injury benefits. Most claims must be made within 3 months of the event, but Employment Injury Benefit must be claimed within 14 days of the accident. See Dates to Remember for each time limit, and do not delay.

Being registered and having contributions paid does not automatically qualify you for every benefit. Each benefit has its own conditions, which may include your age, the reason you stopped working and how many contributions were paid for you. Employment Injury Benefit is different: there is no minimum contribution requirement, but the injury must arise from insurable employment.