BTL Moves to Settle Severance Claims With Interest

BTL’s statement notes that while some severance claims fall outside the six-year statutory limitation period, the company has nonetheless decided, in the interest of resolving outstanding matters, to make payments to qualifying former employees, with interest calculated at six percent per annum from the date of the CCJ judgment, November 5, 2025, to the date of payment.  As previously reported, negotiations between BTL and the Belize Communications Workers for Justice (BCWJ) broke down earlier this year. BCWJ representative Emily Turner had indicated the group was prepared to pursue legal action if necessary. Addressing that impasse, Santos said the discussions stalled because the former employees approached talks with demands rather than a willingness to negotiate.

Kendra Santos, Chief Human Resource Officer, BTL: “Both parties said we wanted to negotiate. We wanted to talk. BTL, as Mr. Awich is saying, is not admitting to any liability. BTL is still relying on its advice, legal advice from senior counsels regarding the statute of limitation. But because BTL does not want to be quarreling and fighting with members of the public and people who we want to be our customers, that’s in the best interest of BTL. Right? And so the board has decided we will go beyond that to settle it. If the other party is saying we don’t want to go to court, they’ve expressed that through formal communication. They’ve expressed that at their press conference. They’ve expressed that in other interviews that they’ve done. So we both say we don’t want to go to court, which is why when we were asked and it was agreed that we would sit at the table, they recommended let’s go on neutral grounds and they recommended the Labor Department. So I requested of the labor commissioner and her officers for us to use their conference rooms and have the labor officers just be observers to the process, right? So we went there in good faith, both parties. So if we’re both saying we’re talking, and we’re both saying we don’t wanna go to court, the expectation that we will give and you will get everything that you believe you should get if you go to court cannot be the premise that we’re talking, in our view. You can’t think that you will end up getting everything that you believe you would get if you go to court. If it is that we’re talking outside of court and we want to settle. Both parties have to agree to get something and to give up something. That’s the spirit in which we approach the discussions.”