Hertta-maria AmutenjaÂ
The Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) and the Namibian Revolutionary Transport Union (NARETU) have raised concerns over changes to employment conditions following the implementation of the national minimum wage (NMW) on 1 January.
MUN general secretary, George Ampweya, said some employers have opted to adjust existing employee benefits instead of complying fully with the NMW.
“Some employers would say, yes, let’s look at existing benefits, for example, trying to cut allowances to compensate for wage increases. This is causing difficulty, as employees must choose between keeping their jobs or losing benefits,” Ampweya said.
He stated that the fuel retail sector is among the most problematic.
“What we are picking up is that the fuel segment is facing challenges. They are advising one another to comply with the law, but to the detriment of some employment conditions,” he said.
Ampweya further noted that while threats of retrenchments were made, MUN has not recorded actual job losses due to the minimum wage.
“We have not seen retrenchments happening for obvious reasons. Employers want to keep operations afloat and cannot afford to lose workers over the minimum wage. The retrenchment threats were selective attempts to test employees’ responses,” he added.
Similarly, NARETU president Peterson Kambinda said some employers in the transport sector have altered benefits, despite complying with the minimum wage.
“We have been proactive on the minimum wage since 2023 because paying employees less than N$18 per hour was exploitative. The wage adjustment did not significantly affect the transport sector, but five employers under our umbrella altered employee benefits,” he said.
Kambinda confirmed that cases of non-compliance have been reported.
“The current challenge involves approximately five employers who have modified the benefits provided to their employees.” We have already lodged these cases with the Labour Commissioner. The majority of employers have complied, and only a few are creating issues,” he said.
A petrol station attendant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his salary increased to meet the NMW, but his benefits were reduced.
“My salary is now at the minimum wage, but they took away my transport allowance. It feels like we are back where we started,” he said.
The Labour Act provides mechanisms for employers struggling to meet the wage requirement, including applying for exemptions.
Candidate legal practitioner Sam-Leon Nakantimba said employees have legal avenues to challenge non-compliance.
“The Labour Act provides clear mechanisms for employees to report non-compliance, including arbitration, which offers a faster and cost-effective way to resolve disputes. Since the minimum wage is a basic condition of employment, it is enforceable under all employment contracts,” he said.
Last year labour expert, Herbert Jauch told Windhoek Observer that the NMW is legally binding and that altering employment conditions unfairly constitutes an unfair labour practice.
“Employers may not change employment conditions for the worse. That would be regarded as unfair labour practices,” he said.
