How Are Severance Payments Calculated in Barbados

Prepared by David King & Co, Attorneys at Law, Belleville Barbados

2010

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How are severance payments calculated in Barbados?

In order to qualify for Severance Payments under the Severance Payments Act of Barbados, a person must have been employed for the requisite period of one hundred and four weeks ending with the relevant date, being the date on which the notice to terminate employment expires or whenever the notice is to take effect.

The amount of a severance payment to which an employee is entitled is calculated by reference to the period ending with the relevant date during which the employee was continuously employed. The amount of severance starting at the end of the period and reckoning backwards is as follows:

For each complete year of employment:

· 2.5 weeks’ basic pay for each such year up to 10 years

· 3 weeks’ basic pay for each such year by which the employment exceeds 10 years but does not exceed 20 years, and

· 3.5 weeks’ basic pay for each such year by which the employment exceeds 20 years but does not exceed 33 years.