Category: Legal Tidbits

Items to consider in entering into an agreement to purchase land in Grenada:

• Is the agreement you are entering into with the vendor a binding contract?

• Have you sought legal advice from an attorney-at-law/lawyer who can act on your behalf without conflict of interest, or are you consenting to the acting for more than one party to the transaction?

• Are you practical in deciding upon the completion date. Have you taken into account, for instance: (a) Do you need to obtain a loan? How long would it take to process your loan? (b) Are you depending on the happening of another event for the funds, for example, sale of another property? (c) Do you need to obtain an aliens’ landholding licence? (d) Do you want to be physically present in Grenada for the completion?

• Should your contract be made expressly subject to any conditions, for example, obtaining an aliens’ landholding licence?

• What happens if you cannot complete by the completion date?

• Are there vendor’s obligations in the contract which must be performed after completion date? Does the contract stipulate this?

• Who is holding the deposit, and on what terms?

• An individual who was born in Grenada
• An individual who is married to a Grenadian citizen, and who has applied for citizenship by virtue of his/her marriage
• An individual whose parent(s) was/were Grenadian citizens at the date the person was born
• An individual who has, on other grounds, including naturalisation, applied for and obtained Grenadian citizenship
• A company, the majority of whose directors and shareholders are Grenadian citizens or shareholders

While you do not need to be a national or citizen of Grenada to buy land in Grenada, it makes a significant difference if you are not. Then, you are considered a foreigner for the purpose of buying land, or, as the law would call you, an alien.

If you are an alien, this adds an extra layer to the process, producing a longer closing timeline and making the transaction more costly.

As a foreigner, you are required to obtain an aliens landholding licence. In order to do so, you need to obtain a police certificate of character, a bank reference, 2 personal references, notarised IDs, incuding passport, and marriage certificate, if you are a legally married couple buying.

Additionally, you will pay an extra layer of Government charges upon buying- 10% of the value of the property as assessed by the Inland Revenue Department above the exempt band, and if ever you decide to sell, you will pay 2x the amount of transfer tax as if you were a Grenadian citizen or national.

Some key information your attorney-at-law/lawyer will need:

1. Due diligence documentation and information: full names, including aliases; date of birth; occupation; source of your wealth, including supporting documentation; coloured copies of two (2) valid pieces of Government-issued ID; proof of address; mailing address; financial institution; marital status; and whether you are or related to a prominent public (governmental) figure;
2. Whether you are buying the property with anyone else;
3. Whether all buyers are Grenadian nationals, citizens or entitled to Grenadian citizenship;
4. If you are borrowing to buy or paying cash, and if loan, who is your lender;
5. If you need to obtain a new plan, the new plan;
6. If you are buying only a portion of the land owned by your vendor;
7. Whether there is a building on the property, with utility connections and persons in occupation, as well as furniture, appliances and the like;
8. The name/contact details for the vendor/vendor’s attorney-at-law;
9. The price you have agreed to pay for the property; and
10. A copy of the vendor’s title deed.

1. Inspect the boundary marks on the ground and obtain a copy of the lot plan;
2. Ask whether there are covenants, eg, restrictions on use;
3. Request a copy of the seller’s title deed;
4. Hire a land surveyor licensed in Grenada to verify the boundaries;
5. Consider getting a competent construction professional to advise you on the structural integrity of any building or suitability of the land for the use you wish to make of it;
6. If there are contents, eg, appliances and furniture, create a list with the vendor and agree their value;
7. Consider obtaining a valuation from a competent valuation professional whose work is accepted by the banks or credit unions in Grenada; and
8. Armed with 1-7, identify and contact an attorney-at-law/a lawyer in Grenada.

Grenada’s Employment Act speaks to temporary lay-offs for customary seasonal employment. Otherwise, unless contracted for, including force majeure provisions, there is no general right to institute temporary lay-off.

Subject to the above stated, if COVID-19 measures require the employer to shut or scale down its business, the employer needs to assess whether the contract has been frustrated or merely interrupted by force majeure.

To conclude whether frustration has occurred, the question which must be asked is: has the core of each employee’s contract been so substantially eroded by the COVID-19 measures or their impact that the employer can no longer offer a job, not necessarily the job, to the employee.

If the contract is frustrated, the employer may be able to terminate the contract without paying any sums otherwise due by law, except payments due up to the date of termination. If COVID-19 is allowed under an express force majeure clause, temporary lay-off may be an option.

The significance of the answers to the questions posed in Part 1

If most of your answers suggest that the employer is the one in control, even if for payment purposes the employee was treated as a contractor, there is a good chance that the law would deem that individual an employee, or a dependent contractor, which has the same consequences in the context of the Labour Code regime.

This would mean that the employer may also be held liable for contributions to the National Insurance Fund, a condition we now expect as a prerequisite for the well-anticipated unemployment benefits.

In addition, it affects the rights of the employee and obligations of the employer in deciding how to treat with termination or suspension of employment.

If the worker is an employee or dependent contractor, the employer MAY find himself/itself obligated to pay:

1. accrued pay, vacation and other benefits;
2. notice in lieu of notice; and
3. termination allowance.

If the employer becomes bankrupt or insolvent, as many employers may be forced by this pandemic to do, then the worker who is an employee or dependent contractor has legal protection in respect of outstanding salaries and related payments.

See Part 3 next week on when the employer may terminate the contract on account of COVID-19 measures, and not pay at all, and if the employment can suspend employment by temporary lay-off.

The Grenada employment landscape has, like everywhere else worldwide, changed drastically with a lockdowns imposed by Government within under four (4) hour notice before the end of the workday for most employees.    

Our labour laws do not appear to make any specific provision for dealing with employment contracts negatively impacted by Governmental action, the period of which remains very uncertain. 

However, it is important to know whether and how the labour and employment laws apply in determining what are the rights of employees and employers, concerning their obligations to each other, especially on the important questions which have become of public concern: paid or unpaid leave, vacation leave, and hopefully, unemployment benefits our Government appears to be contemplating paying out under the umbrella of the National Insurance Scheme, as well as termination.   

Below are some of the questions both employers and employees must ask themselves in order to understand their rights and obligations:

The following are some of the questions which should be asked in order to assist in making that determination:
1.    Has the employer control over the way in which the employee performs his duties? 
2.    Is it that although the employee is so skilled that he cannot be controlled in the performance of his duties, that he was integrated into the employer’s organisation?
3.    Is the employee working on his own account?
4.    Who provides the tools to perform the services?
5.    Who hires and fires assistants for the employee?
6.    Must work be performed at a location dictated by the employer?
7.    Must the work be performed during certain hours?
8.    Can the work be delegated?