Dominican labour ministry plans inspections of lottery-betting shops
Regulation2 min read
The Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Labour met lottery-betting shop representatives to plan compliance with labour rules. The parties agreed on technical visits to assess working conditions, while shop owners said they were willing to enrol workers in the national social security system.
The Dominican Republic's Ministry of Labour met representatives of lottery-betting shops to coordinate compliance with labour rules at their premises. The shop owners requested the meeting, with the aim of starting to plan how to meet the requirements set by the ministry.
Specialists from the ministry's Directorate of Safety and Health at Work, led by its director Roberto Sánchez, will make technical visits to establishments of the lottery-betting consortia in the National District, Santo Domingo province, Santiago and other provinces. The ministry said the visits are meant to establish the conditions in which the shops operate, identify their needs and produce a technical report. One of the priorities is to start arrangements to ensure that shops without bathrooms have them.
On social security, the owners said they were willing to enrol in the Dominican Social Security System workers who have not yet obtained that right. Labour Minister Eddy Olivares Ortega said a meeting would be arranged with Henry Sahdala, the Social Security treasurer, to set out the actions needed to bring those workers into the system. Coordination with Teófilo Tabar, director of Casinos and Games of Chance, is also planned.
At the end of October, the ministry gave owners and operators of lottery and betting shops 30 calendar days to correct labour deficiencies. Once that period expires, the ministry will intensify inspections across the country. The parties also agreed to hold a further meeting to follow up on the commitments made.
According to ministry data, the sector employs approximately 200,000 workers across more than 110,000 establishments. Juan Antonio del Jesús, president of the national federation of lottery-betting shops FENABANCA, took part in the meeting.