Africa-Press – Botswana. Members of Parliament (MPs) have hailed the Employment and Labour Relations Bill 2025, saying it will help promote decent work, safeguard workers’ rights and improve workers’ welfare.
The MPs on Thursday, supported the Bill that was tabled before Parliament for second reading by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General Pius Mokgware the previous day.
In his debate, Mmadinare MP, Mr Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said the Bill was progressive and would address grievances that workers had faced.
“I wholeheartedly support this bill as a trade unionist. I am saying, I’m a trade unionist, because trade unionism is about consciousness of workers’ rights and welfare and I have not retired from this consciousness,” he said.
Mr Motshegwa, who is also the Local Government and Traditional Affairs minister, said the Bill came at an opportune time as it sought to enhance collective bargaining by ensuring that there was effective social dialogue, as government was obligated to ensure that there was functional effective social dialogue at tripartite level.
“This is a welcome development, as it now means we are moving beyond these consultative structures of minimum wage, Labour Advisory Board, High Level Consultative Council Labour Sector to a structure where there will be discussions and almost consensus on labour policies between the tripartite structures,” he said.
Also, he said employer organisation and workers, through their labour centres, would have the opportunity to contribute toward shaping of labour policies and on issues of Essential Services Committee to try and curb inclusion of almost all cadres under essential services, against the definition of International Labour Organisation (ILO) on essential services.
Mr Motshegwa said this would also ensure objectivity of the law and also emphasised that the Bill should be seen as a victory for workers, as it would address unfair labour practices and enhance industrial democracy.
He said this was because industrial democracy was a subset of a broader democracy.
For his part, Palapye legislator Mr Onneetse Ramogapi applauded Maj. Gen Mokgware for coming up with the Bill, saying it was a true testament that the current government was a human rights based government.
“Maj. Gen Mokgware, we thank you for this Bill because you are a man of action and even Batswana can attest to that,” he said.
Mr Ramogapi, who is also Water and Human Settlement minister, expressed gratitude that the Bill would afford employers and workers to discuss and reach a consensus with employees prior to making final decisions on retrenchment related issues.
Member of Parliament for Maun East Mr Goretetse Kekgonegile said the Bill would bring a transformative shift by introducing longer maternity and adoption leave.
However, he expressed concern that the duration of both leaves might present challenges for employers in terms of absences or low productivity, advising the minister to ensure employers were met half way to manage the challenge well.
Mahalapye East MP, Mr Augustine Nyatanga said issues of fair and equal treatment of employees in the workplace would be covered by the Bill, stressing that legislative framework should ensure the protection of all employees, including people living with disabilities, as well as marginalised groups such as Basarwa.
He expressed delight that the Bill highlighted core labour standards that addressed fundamental and indomitable human rights, such as freedom from discrimination at work and freedom of association.
Mr Nyatanga, who is also the Assistant Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, hailed the increase of maternity leave allowance from 50 to 70 per cent, as well as the introduction of paternity leave, saying it would afford men the opportunity to bond with their children.
Specially Elected MP, Ms Lesego Chombo, who is also Minister of Youth and Gender Affairs, applauded the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, as well as Minister Mokgware for integrating gender issues into the Bill.
“We have been advocating for gender issues to be integrated into laws, policies and into various programmes and practices across sectors and all levels of development, instead of treating gender issues as a separate issue,” she said.
Ms Chombo said they would love to really applaud the ministry for having taken time to sit and really assess the implications of the law for both women and men.
She expressed concern that the current Employment Act had no explicit protection against sexual harassment at work. In this day and age, she said the Act remained silent on sexual harassment, leaving private sector employees without clear legal recourse.
“They only have pretty much a piecemeal protection via constructive dismissal or inferred termination,” she noted.
The bill, she said, also addressed the issue of non-compliance with ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work.
“We happily applaud and welcome the provisions that are being suggested in this bill. It has a very comprehensive section on gender, which is quite holistic and very comprehensive,” she said.
Ms Chombo said they were also grateful that the Bill would eliminate discrimination and prevent violence and harassment in the workplace, including but not limited to gender-based violence, which continues to remain a pressing issue in Botswana and considered it to be a national crisis.
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