Client Query:
I understand that in the USA, an employee who is hired “at will” can be dismissed whenever the employer wishes to do so if the term “at will’ appears in the employment contract. Can the ‘at will’ concept apply in Trinidad & Tobago?
Consultant’s Response:
No. The situation with employment contracts in Trinidad and Tobago is quite different and is governed by legislation as well as by custom, practice and precedent to which the Ministry of Labour and the Industrial Court adhere. In a recent court case involving the dismissal of a Trinidadian employee working for a U.S. owned company but working in Trinidad & Tobago, the employer, counting on an employment contract drawn up in the USA which contained that clause, dismissed “at will” the employee, without assigning cause and without giving notice or severance pay.
The employee, a Trinidadian, took the employer to the Industrial Court and was awarded several million dollars in compensation, as he was subject to the laws of this country as he was employed here and was working here.
