Bermuda Industrial Union President Derrick Burgess has called for the new Employment Act to be amended to abolish the clause which allows employers to evade paying extra for overtime.

The law, implemented in March, stipulates time and a half for overtime over 40 hours or straight time and plus time off in lieu. But the act allows these stipulations to be skipped if the employee consents.

Mr. Burgess said: "It should not be in there. People are trying to get benefit for working over 40 hours."

He said certain employers were trying to get around the act. He said: "The intention was to put workers at an advantage over overtime."

Managers are exempt from overtime payments under the new act but Mr. Burgess said that was understandable.

He said: "Most of them get bonuses but blue collar workers don't get that."

However Kelvin Hastings-Smith, who is Litigation Manager for Appleby, Spurling and Kempe, and who advises on employment and immigration issues said employers could simply cut overtime if they were forced to pay extra to workers.

He said this might lead to extra jobs being created but established workers would lose out on the chance to earn extra money.

Mr. Hastings-Smith said: "There is nothing in the act that says you must earn overtime."

He urged employers and employees to hammer out a deal and suggested one solution would be for employers to increase wages.

Labour Minister Terry Lister has said he is willing to listen to suggestions from employers and unions over amendments to the Employment Act, despite expressing irritation that they had done little during the year-long transition period which ended in March.

However the Bermuda Employers Council has hit back over comments made by Mr. Lister urging the Labour Advisory Council "to get off their backsides" and hold meetings over the controversial act.

He said they should use the Labour Advisory Council (LAC), which comprises unions, employers and Government to thrash out concerns.

But BEC Executive Director Andrea Mowbray said Government had failed to turn up to a sub-committee meeting last week without warning.

She said: "It's supposed to be a tripartite body but it was bi-partite that day. We didn't get anything done at all."

She said Government was supposed to set up the LAC meetings but requests from both unions and employers had fallen on deaf ears with previous Minister Paula Cox only setting up two in her three years as Minister while there had been one "getting to know you" session under Terry Lister.

Ms Mowbray said: "We have been asking for these meetings since 1998."

Her views were echoed by Bermuda Public Services Union (CORRECT) General Secretary Edward Ball.

He said: "We have been calling for many meetings but there hasn't been any response."

BIU President Derrick Burgess said labour relations consultant to the Government Arlene Brock had failed to show because of the crisis at Cedarbridge last week and had apologised for her absence.