Guyana reviews labour laws for a changing world of work

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (ILO News) — How should labour laws protect workers, set a level playing field for employers, and remain workable as an economy changes? That question is at the centre of wide-ranging consultations in Guyana, undertaken as part of a technical review of the country’s labour legislation.

The consultations which took place from 14 to 23 September, were designed to gather perspectives from government ministries and agencies, workers’ organizations for both public and private sectors, employers’ organizations, the judiciary, legal practitioners, academia and civil society.

The process comes as Guyana’s economy and labour market continue to change rapidly. The International Monetary Fund projects real GDP growth of 16.2 per cent in 2026, while Guyana’s Bureau of Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Government has also highlighted the growth of new industries and changing workforce needs as reasons for examining whether the country’s labour framework remains fit for current realities.

Led nationally by the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, the review is looking beyond the wording of legislation to how laws operate in practice. The Ministry’s current mandate spans labour administration, industrial relations, collective bargaining, dispute resolution and enforcement.

“As Guyana’s labour market changes, we need to hear directly from the people who use and are affected by these laws. Workers, employers, public institutions and other stakeholders can help us understand what works well, where there is uncertainty and where the framework may need to respond differently to today’s world of work.” Hon. Keoma Griffith, Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning.

The ILO-supported technical review covers Acts and their subsidiary regulations on wages, working time, termination, leave, trade union rights and collective bargaining, migrant labour, discrimination and the employment of young people. Occupational safety and health and maritime labour are excluded because the former is being addressed through a separate exercise, and the latter would involve working with very different stakeholders.

International labour standards form part of the review’s reference framework. Guyana has ratified 47 ILO Conventions and one Protocol, including Conventions on freedom of association, collective bargaining, equal remuneration, non-discrimination, forced labour and child labour.

Ms. Deborah Thomas-Felix who is the ILO consultant conducting the review. She is currently High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica and Ambassador to Dominican Republic and Haiti. She is a member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. as well as the former President of the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago.

Shingo Miyake, ILO Specialist, Labour Law and International Labour Standards explained, “the ILO’s role is to contribute through this consultancy to the labour law review process by providing an analysis informed by international labour standards and stakeholder consultations. The analysis would include recommendations as to which laws should be changed and how.”