Unions have raised concerns that the tribunal set up to adjudicate the Employment Act 2000 is not working efficiently due to over-worked staff and long delays.

The purpose of the Act is to promote fair treatment of employers and employees, provide minimum standards, establish procedures and notice periods for termination and to protect against unfair dismissal.

Employees can protest violations to an inspector for mediation and if there is no resolution the complaint gets referred to the employment tribunal.

The Government has remained silent despite requests from for information on how many cases have been heard since the tribunal was set up in 2002.

But according to Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess, there have been fewer cases dealt with by the tribunal than expected ? and he said the unions were getting ?fed up?.

?We?ve not had many cases go to the tribunal ? perhaps two or three at the most since it was set up,? he said. ?Most of our cases go to arbitration but we do have many cases outstanding at the Labour Department ? probably around 20.

?We have one or two cases going as far back as four years with the Department of Labour waiting for a decision. We have written numerous letters about this. He also expressed concerns about the way the process works, saying that it it would be better for the tribunal to ask the questions and have the employer and employee answer them rather than the current system where both sides usually have lawyers advocating on their behalf.

?If you have a regular employee without the funds for a lawyer at the tribunal and then the employer comes with a lawyer then it goes without saying what will happen,? he said.

Edward Ball, general secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Union, agreed: ?The employment tribunal should have a relaxed atmosphere where the parties can take about the issue and get a resolution. It should not be an adversarial body.?

And he also expressed concern about the slowness of the process. ?The Labour Department has so many cases to deal with, with around 500 cases per year dealt with by just two people,? he said. ?I think that anybody who is an employer or works for a trade union knows that the two officers are overworked.

?They need more manpower. We deal with them directly, so know this first-hand.?

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley said: ?I have great concern about this issue, which is not helping labour relations. I have heard people complain about the process taking too long and there is just no excuse for delays of four years.

?If something is not working then a review should be done to see where the problem is but I don?t think there has been enough pressure on the government to come to that realisation yet.?