Staff Writer
The Tuesday High Court ruling in favour of employers, which declared parts of two proclamations issued by President Hage Geingob relating to the suspension of the Labour Act and also parts of the Covid-19 state of emergency regulations as unconstitutional, could spell trouble for workers.
According to the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), the development will not auger well for workers who had found some form of job and remuneration protection under the government regulations.
“The concern is that their aim is to pay workers less, cut salaries and take away leaves days but we won’t tolerate the half pays, the 20 percent cuts and the exploitation of workers. Now that they have challenged that, they must pay workers in line with the law,” NUNW Secretary General, Job Muniaro told the Windhoek Observer.
“The guidelines were not meant to punish anyone but to rescue the situation.”
The decrees which were being challenged, stipulated that during the country’s COVID-19 lockdown period, employers may not dismiss employees. In addition, they could neither force employees to take unpaid leave or annual leave due, and they may not reduce the pay of any employee for reasons related to the State of Emergency.
According to the government regulations, employers were required to reinstate employees who had been dismissed due to the effect of the pandemic on their business, and to negotiate with recognised trade unions, workplace representatives or affected employees themselves if they want to reduce or defer the payment of remuneration during the lockdown period because they are unable to pay employees’ salaries in full.
In addition to this, the now-illegal regulations under the declarations stated that if employers have notified their employees of their intended dismissals because of Covid-19, the dismissals would only occur 28 days after the end of the lockdown period and employers who breach the regulations would be committing an offence for which they can be fined N$10,000 or given a jail term of up to two years.
The Namibian Employers Association (NEA) said despite the favorable judgment, it remained open to engaging government.
“Basically, the provisions of regulations 12 and 19 have been declared unconstitutional and not valid. It validates all we have been saying all along that the regulations were unconstitutional and that has been our fight and it was found here. It confirms that democracy is alive and well in Namibia. From the NEA, we were never consulted and that is all we ever wanted. If government calls us, we will join hands with them and find resolution on what we are facing as a nation,” Henry Brewer from the employer’s association said.
Attorney-General Festus Mbandeka said his office will decide the way forward after studying the full judgment.
“We respect the High Court ruling but of course we are disappointed that the court did not find in our favour. We are currently are awaiting for the full judgment to study it and determine the way forward on whether we shall appeal or not. Only after a thorough assessment of the judgment and reasons thereof, we shall be in a position to understand its implications on other aspects related to the State of Emergency,” he said.
The development comes as job losses continue to mount in the country, with retailer Pick n Pay owned by the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group announcing its intention to retrench over 500 employees.
Namibian Employers’ Federation (NEF), the Namibian Employers Association and the companies, FP du Toit Transport, JetX Couriers, John Meinert Printing, Huab Safari Ranches and Skycore Aviation were the applicants in the case.
