Clause 28

by deleting the words “whose decision shall be final” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “within two months from the date of the employee’s confinement”; and

by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:“(3) Where the Minister is satisfied that the employee has been dismissed without sufficient cause, he may, notwithstanding any rule of law or agreement to the contrary —

direct the employer to reinstate the employee in her former employment and pay the employee an amount equal to the wages that the employee would have earned had she not been dismissed by the employer; or

direct the employer to pay such amount of wages as compensation as the Minister may consider just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances of the case,and the employer shall comply with the direction of the Minister.(4) The decision of the Minister under subsection (3) shall be final and conclusive and shall not be challenged in any court.(5) Any direction of the Minister under subsection (3) shall operate as a bar to any action for damages by the employee in any court in respect of the dismissal without sufficient cause under subsection (1).(6) An employer who fails to comply with the direction of the Minister under subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.(7) Where any amount to be paid by an employer under subsection (3) is not paid in accordance with the direction of the Minister and the employer has been convicted of an offence under subsection (6), the amount or so much thereof as remains unpaid shall be recoverable by the court as if it were a fine and the amount so recoverable shall be paid to the employee entitled to payment under the direction of the Minister.”.