ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
Hotel Mocking Bird Hill
2003/2004 Sustainability Report
Section 5: Social and Economic performance
Number of Employees
Year end 2000: 16
Year end 2001: 10
Year end 2002: 19
Employee Health, Safety and Well Being
• The Hotel Mocking Bird Hill currently holds a Health Certificate and a Pool Certificate issued by the Ministry of Health
• The current fire certificate is currently under review by the Jamaica Fire Brigade
• The hotel is licensed by the Jamaica Tourist Board
• All food and beverage employees are required to hold a current Food Handler’s Permit
Workplace Demands
Employee Training and Career Development
• Conducted intensive staff training programme.
• Conducted environmental training for new members of staff
• Sent the maintenance supervisor to attend the Environmental Managers workshop organized by EAST.
• Sent the chef for a practical work experience to the Wyndham to gain an insight into larger hotel operations and broaden his horizons.
• In terms of providing support for the families of our staff, we support the education of the children of 2 members of staff – a child each by contributing financially to covering their school fees.
Wages and Benefits
The Hotel Mocking Bird Hill commits itself to providing decent working conditions for its employees. Salaries are above minimum wage and employment has been given primarily to women. The staff consists mainly of persons from the neighbouring communities who have been trained on the job and thus given a chance to develop new skills and enhance their earning capacities. Employees who have been with the hotel for more than one year receive health insurance under a Blue Cross Group Plan.
Year Ratio between lowest and highest paid at Hotel Mocking Bird Hill
2002 4.62:1
*The minimum wage in Jamaica is J$7,800 gross per month.
Workplace diversity
Given our location in the heart of Jamaica, it is natural that the majority of our staff is Jamaican. The exception is one of the co-owners/managers, Shireen Aga, who originates from India. In addition, Hotel Mocking Bird Hill offers internship programs from students throughout the globe, most recently students from Germany and the United States have participated in these programs. The only real need for illustration is the male/female breakdown, which is shown below.
Community Development
• We have lobbied for and started the accreditation process of Green Globe certification for the destination of Port Antonio/Portland and contributed significant time and effort to get the support of USAID to support this process. Invited and Hosted Prof. De Lacy from Green Globe to visit and explain the process and provide guidance to the key players.
• We have devoted considerable time to writing project proposals to CPEC to access funding to staff training. We were able to organize an energy conservation program and audits of smaller properties, guest houses and restaurants in Port Antonio. This was funded by CPEC.
• We have taken time and conducted site inspections and introduction programmes with various student groups about environmentally friendly hotel operations using the hotel as a case study.
Global thinking – local actions
We do not restrict the practice of sustainable tourism to the hotel alone, but also include the community as a whole and try to raise the awareness of our colleagues as wee as other operators in the tourist industry. It is necessary to demonstrate the connections between nature, the environment, quality of life, health and responsibility and help insure that the environment dimension is properly taken into account with regard to the further development of tourism in the area. The managers of Hotel Mocking Bird Hill are currently working on establishing criteria for defining environmentally friendly tourism for all the hotels in the region to start with, in the hope that it will be accepted island wide. A seminar on “Green” management is also in the planning and will be held in the near future. Unlike previous “Greening” seminars that were directed at the departmental staff of the local hotels, this seminar is being conceiver for the managers of the hotels in the area and seeks to encourage them in the direction of conducting their business in an ecologically sound manner.
Introduction: Why We Produced This Report
Section 1: Key Indicators and Vision
Section 2: Organizational Profile
Section 3: Policies, Management Systems and Relationships
Section 4: Environmental Performance
Section 5: Social and Economic Performance
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