Jamaica Employer's Federation

Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC)

The Caribbean Employers’ Confederation is a grouping of employers’ organizations in the Caribbean region dedicated to the development and promotion of good industrial relations practices at the enterprise and macro-level towards achieving productivity and prosperity for the member countries and the region as a whole. There are fifteen (15) Regional members of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

JEF represents Jamaica as the sole Employer representative to the International Labour Organization (ILO) - a specialized agency of the United Nations, the only international organization with a tripartite structure (worker, Government, Employer). These three groups collaborate with each other on labour and social issues.

The International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva is the permanent Secretariat of the International Labour Organization. Its Operational Headquarters, Research Centre and Publishing House, Administration and Management are decentralized in Regional, Area and Branch offices. Under the leadership of a Director-General, who is elected for a five-year renewable term, the office employs some 2,500 officials and experts at the Geneva Headquarters and in more than 40 field offices around the world.

The ILO is an unique forum in which the governments and social partners of its 174 member states can freely and openly confront experiences and compare national policies. Its tripartite structure makes the ILO unique among world organizations in that employers’ and workers’ organizations have an equal voice with governments in shaping its policies and programmes. Each member country has the right to send four delegates, (two from the government and one each representing workers and employers) to the International Labour Conference which meets in Geneva in June of each year. Each delegate may speak and vote independently. Between Conferences, the work of the ILO is guided by the Governing Body comprising 28 Government members and 14 Worker and 14 Employer members.

The ILO is the world’s major resource centre for information, analysis and guidance on the world of work. Research accompanies and reinforces all the Organization’s practical activities, and the ILO is universally regarded as an authorative source of statistical information. For more information on the ILO, visit their Website: http://www.ilo.org.

International Organization of Employers (IOE)

JEF represents Jamaica as the sole Employer representative to the International Organization of Employers (IOE) - the working organization representing employers, and acts on behalf of employers’ at most tripartite meetings.

The International Organization of Employers (IOE) is the recognized organization representing the interests of employers in International, Social and Labour policy matters for over eighty (80) years, with over 136 members in 132 countries.

The IOE is the “Voice of Employers to the World” and its mission is to:

• Promote and defend the interests of employers and their organizations in international fora.
• Promote free enterprise, its creation and development.
• Assist in establishing and strengthening employers’ organizations.
• Facilitate the exchange of information and strengthen relationships amongst members.

The IOE coordinates employers’ views and provides advice in all International Labour Organisation (ILO) activities and provides a platform for enterprises’ interaction with the ILO. It provides guidance on all relevant policy areas affecting employers and their organizations and develops policy positions which can be used in national debates. It supplies direct technical assistance to individual members on social and labour issues and presents members with the opportunity to attend the International meetings convened by the ILO and other International organizations. It organizes conferences, workshops, seminars and training on a national, regional and international basis thus providing members with a forum to interact with each other. It facilitates and supports regional employer organizations in their role of devising an integrated regional response to issues affecting employers, as they arise. It provides to members, International recognition and national exclusivity of services; as well as leadership in the implementation of the Global Compact, especially in the developing world.