The
Ombudsman has ordered the release of dozens of records of decisions
made by the government’s Labour Tribunals and the Labour Appeals
Tribunal over the past five years following an appeal hearing under
the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law.

A
FOI applicant sought decisions where the respective tribunals ruled
on unfair dismissal under the Labour Law. Decisions for 2017 and 2018
were immediately released, but the applicant was told decisions for
the years 2015, 2016 and 2019 were not ready for release. The
government stated that it would be an unreasonable diversion of
resources to produce the documents.

The
government advised the Ombudsman of its intention to release all
decisions and post them on the Department of Labour and Pensions
(DLP) website, but claimed it required more time and resources to do
so. The Ombudsman commended the government for its intention, but
found the time required to review the tribunal decisions relating to
unfair dismissal was not an unreasonable diversion of resources.

The
Ombudsman ordered the release of the tribunals’ decisions from the
remaining years identified in the FOI request within 30 days.

“All
decisions made by the Labour Tribunals and the Labour Appeals
Tribunal should be available for public review in any case and ought
not to require an FOI request for government to produce them,” said
Sandy Hermiston.

The
FOI appeal hearing flagged some areas of concern for the Office of
the Ombudsman relative to the way the Labour Tribunals managed
records and staffed operations.

According
to the decision issued today, the Ombudsman found it “troubling”
to read statements from the DLP and the Labour Appeals Tribunal
secretary about the general lack of resources available for the
important work of the tribunals, including compliance with the FOI
Law. The secretary also indicated a lack of control over tribunal
records and staff members’ uncertainty as to their location.

“This
is a serious issue, since the management of all records, especially
important records such as tribunal decisions, is a key prerequisite
for an efficient and effective public service,” said Jan Liebaers,
Deputy Ombudsman.

You
can read the full text of the decision here:
https://ombudsman.ky/images/pdf/decisions/Hearing_Decision_80-202000008_.pdf

Any member of the public wishing to submit an appeal of a government decision on an FOI request may phone the Ombudsman at 946-6283 or email info@ombudsman.ky. For more information about Cayman’s FOI Law, please see our website at www.ombudsman.ky.