A new Act to lay down minimum rights for workers is moving closer to realisation as Labour Minister Paula Cox on Friday tabled the draft Employment Act 2000.

The most notable change seen in the Bill is a weakening of the power of labour relations officers.

Ms Cox tabled the Bill for discussion purposes only and in a statement to members of the House said she hoped to re-table it in the fall.

She said the Bill was the result of extensive tri-partite consultation between employers, unions and the Government. She also noted that the draft presented had been amended to reflect many concerns from the various parties.

"The widest possible consultation has taken place,'' she said. " This was social dialogue operating at an optimal level.'' The first draft of the Act released in late June set out workers rights in four main areas: condition of employment, time off, termination of employment and enforcement.

It said that all workers would have certain minimum rights including: a written contract after one week of employment overtime pay or time in lieu after forty hours of work in a week paid public holidays a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours each week eight paid sick days a year two weeks paid holiday after one year of work at least eight weeks maternity leave specific termination notice time The revised Bill greatly diminishes the power of labour relations officers and requires a Tribunal to hear all grievances officers deem legitimate. Parties under the new Bill can appeal those decisions to the Supreme Court.

The former draft saw a labour relations officer hearing complaints in the first instance and appeals taken to the Tribunal.

The revised Bill also omits a section which placed an onus on the employer to prove why an employee was dismissed. The employer's failure to do so would result in an automatic judgment that the person was dismissed unfairly.

A stipulation that a work week consists of 40 hours was also removed, but a section on overtime still lays out that hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week are to be considered overtime.

A section which set out that a rest period of half an hour was required for every employee who worked five hours continuously, was also ditched.

Under a section on bereavement, immediate family was extended slightly to include an employee's "partner'' in addition to spouse, child, parent or sibling.

Employees under the new act would be entitled to three days unpaid leave to attend local funerals and five days for funerals overseas.

The Minister has also adjusted the amount of termination notice employers must give their employees. For employees who have been with the company for under five years, employers are required to give them one week's notice. All longer standing workers are to be given one month's notice.

The former draft laid out notice periods of two weeks for employees who had worked for a company under a year, one month, for employees who were between a year and five years and two months for all longer standing workers.

The new draft also does away with a section that required employers to offer jobs formerly held by people terminated or laid off back to those people.

It also omits a section which causes all employees to be considered terminated after one month of the death of their employer.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess and Bermuda Employers' Council executive director, Malcolm Dixon, both reserved comment on the new draft, saying they needed time to read and fully discuss the changes.