Africa-Press – Namibia. MORE than 110 employers informed the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation between July and September this year that they would like to get rid of more than 880 employees.
This was reported by the ministry last week, with employers citing reorganisation, the transferring of businesses, and the discontinuance or reduction of business operations as reasons for being unable to keep some staff members.
According to a labour statistics report released by the ministry, this is not the exact figure of actual retrenchments, as employers are only required to inform the labour commissioner of their intention to dismiss employees.
During the same quarter, the ministry dealt with about 1 092 labour cases, of which 568 (52%) were resolved, while 524 (48%) are pending and will be dealt with during the next quarter.
To ensure compliance to labour laws, a total of 387 inspections related to the basic conditions of employment were conducted in the construction, domestic and informal sectors during the period under review.
The construction and informal sectors had a compliance level of 75%, while the domestic sector stood at a rate of 53%. With regards to occupational health and safety (OHS), a total of 207 inspections were conducted in the construction industry.
The overall compliance level of OHS is 16%. The Office of the Employment Equity Commissioner identified certain areas to be amended, stating that proposed amendments to the Labour Act have thus reached a target of 80%.
The proposed amendments will be tabled before the commission once new members of the commission have been appointed. Under the Office of the Labour Commissioner a total of
1 092 cases were handled during the period under review, which includes cases that were carried over from the previous quarters.
Some 568 (52%) cases were resolved successfully, of which 438 (77%) were resolved through conciliation and 129 (23%) through arbitration. A total of 524 (48%) cases were brought forward.
Cases were postponed for various reasons, such as ongoing negotiations by involved parties, postponements either by the parties or arbitrators, illness mainly due to Covid-19, or self-isolation and quarantine of either the arbitrators or parties, as well as study and compassionate leave.
This figure also includes cases which have been arbitrated, of which the awards were not issued yet, cases which were conciliated, but not yet arbitrated, and cases which were partly arbitrated.
According to the report, Section 34 of the Labour Act places an obligation on the employer who intends to dismiss employees to inform the Labour Commissioner thereof at least four weeks before the intended dismissals.
During the review period, a total number of 117 companies notified the Labour Commissioner of their intention to dismiss 881 employees. Moreover, a total of 32 out of 207 workplaces were found to be in good compliance with occupational health standards.
Average and poor compliance levels during the same period were recorded at 26% (54 workplaces) and 58 % (121), respectively. The ministry has once again observed that a large number of employers are reluctant to implement or attend to remedial recommendations issued by inspectors for the purposes of complying with OHS standards.
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