Prime Minister Mia Mottley cautioned that businesses which pursue high profits by short-changing workers risk undermining productivity, customer service and their own long-term viability.

“Fast money that is not sustainable is not a successful business,” she said on Tuesday, as the House of Assembly debated the Protection of Wages Bill. Attempts to squeeze every dollar from workers could eventually lead to dissatisfaction and “malicious compliance”, she said.

She criticised what she described as exploitative workplace practices, arguing that workers’ treatment directly affects productivity, customer service and the long-term success of businesses.