Africa-Press – Seychelles. Over a hundred Indian workers from local company Mahé Design & Build converged at the Independence House yesterday morning, requesting to see employment officials over grievance of five months unpaid salary since July 2023.
Speaking to the media following talks with the workers’ representatives yesterday afternoon, Stephanie Boniface, labour monitoring and compliance officer at the labour department, said prior to yesterday’s gathering, they were alerted about the grievance last Friday afternoon, by an officer from the Indian High Commission.
“There was round 100 plus Indian workers at the Independence House early this morning (yesterday) claiming they have not been paid for five months and two of our officers had a meeting with ten of them in the presence of an officer from the Indian High Commission and there again they claimed they had not received their salaries since July 2023 to November 2023,” stated Mrs Boniface.
She added the workers also claimed they are usually paid late, sick leave were deducted from their salaries, and they were not being paid overtime, among others.
Mrs Boniface said the employment department immediately contacted Mahé Design & Build, which refuted the allegations, stating that except for the November payment, which was still ongoing, all salaries since July 2023 have been paid according to the monthly payment procedures.
This was reiterated by the company during a meeting between employment officials and representatives of the construction company late yesterday afternoon, where the officials requested proof of payment for the past 11 months.
According to a communique issued by the employment department following the meeting, Mahé Design & Build has been given until the end of this week, to submit all relevant documents.
“Thereafter, based on the documents received, applicable actions will be taken,” read the statement.
It should be noted that following the initial meeting at the employment department, the Indian workers’ representatives who spoke to local media said they were satisfied with the outcome, and were hoping to receive the salaries owed to them as soon as possible.
Employment officials met with them on site yesterday afternoon for further update.
The department said it usually conducts visits to workplaces once a year and the last one to Mahé Design & Build was in August 2022, where the only concern raised by the workers was their safety while working on scaffoldings.
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
