Editorial | Roadworks, flexiweek and labour markets

The traffic gridlocks in Kingston, caused by the several major road projects in the city, have put back on the national agenda an important issue about which not much has been heard in recent times - the matter of a flexible workweek and the broader question of labour-market reform. Just where are they?

Well-built roads, and associated infrastructure, are good for economies. They facilitate speedier movement of people, faster transport of goods, and linkages between different regions of a country and sectors of the economy. All things being equal, these translate to greater efficiency, a lower cost of doing business, job creation, and economic growth.

But construction period can be problematic, as is proving to be the case in the Jamaican capital, where at least four major road projects, costing several billion dollars, are under way. The spillover effect from the affected roads is obvious across the city, especially during peak hours. Commuters now spend far more time in traffic, including on their way to and from work.

DECLINE IN LABOUR OUTPUT

There is no official survey on the issue, but it is assumed that the snags cost the economy hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of man-hours daily, in an economy where labour productivity has declined by nearly one per cent a year for the better part of four decades. It is possible that unless the traffic effect is offset by gains elsewhere, the decline in labour output will be greater during the life of these projects.

Last week, GraceKennedy & Company, the food, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, in response to the traffic woes, publicly urged more of its workers to join the flexible workweek, which is allowed in law. Grace also suggested that other firms embrace the system.

The proportion of Grace's nearly 2,000 employees, or of the more than 1.2 million working Jamaicans, who are on the flexi system is not known. But anecdotal evidence suggests that that number is relatively low and that not too much has changed since the flexiwork legislation was approved in 2014.

Under that law, the workweek for Jamaicans remains at 40 hours. However, employers and employees can agree on how to structure those hours over the seven days, with a maximum of 12 hours a day. So, payment for overtime work no longer kicks in after eight hours during a workday in a day, but only after an employee has completed 40 hours for the week. Additionally, Sunday is no longer a special time for which employers have to pay a premium to employees who work on that day.

It was expected that the system would lead to a change in how firms structure their operations, including having later opening hours and working on Saturdays and Sundays. Such changes appear to have been limited.

It would be useful for the labour ministry to commission a study on how many firms and their employees have embraced the flexiwork concept and what may be the reasons for the resistance, if there are any. The flexiwork scheme was to have been part of broad labour-market reforms, at which a task force has been working for nearly three years. The labour minister, Shahine Robinson, should say when the country might expect at least an interim report from the group.

While she's at it, Ms Robinson might want to get a handle on the man-hour cost of the roadworks, even if only for academic reasons.