Staff Writer
A showdown is looming between employers and government over new proposed regulations that make it illegal for employers to dismiss, retrench or send employees home on unpaid leave during the lockdown.
This comes as employer organizations have warned that legal action could be considered should government move ahead to gazette the proposed regulations into law.
“We would like to get back to the table with ministry and other organizations that feel aggrieved by the proposed regulations. It’s not only the Namibian Employers Association (NEA) that feels this way but other organisations too. If all else fails then we might have to follow the legal route,” NEA President, Henry Bruwer said.
“We want sanity to prevail and talks, because it will be costly for parties to take the legal route.”
On whether the organization had been consulted prior to the drafting of the regulations, he said “The NEA have since 25 March 2020 tried to be included on the invitation list of the Ministry. A response to this request was only received on 15 April 2020, this after alleged consultations with other stakeholders were already on-going. We have made it clear that we have a mandate regarding the rights and obligations of our members and is duly mandated to represent them at all stakeholder meetings.”
“We want to have dialogue with them; it’s usually the same answer we get. They don’t want to talk.”
Bruwer said the organization was surprised that the proposed labour regulations had already reached cabinet level without the input of key stakeholders, including the organization, which has the support of the Namibia Manufacturers Association.
“We, the NEA, does not agree with the draft regulations seen as we are of the opinion that our rights in terms of section 59(2)(a) of the Labour Act have been severely compromised and ignored by MLIEC, i.e. to bring our members’ concerns to the table and to have meaningful consultations with the said Ministry. We deem this approach by the Ministry as a totalitarian approach with no regard to the rights of employers as prescribed in the Labour Act, Act 11 of 2007 and more so the present circumstances which quite obviously not only affects employees, but employers too,” he said
“We want the proposed directives to be brought to the Labour Advisory Council, which should them deliberate them and make changes, and from there they can be given to minister, a process which did not happen as it should.”
On what impact the proposed regulations will have on the organization’s members, Bruwer said “The implications are grave. We also want to save jobs and be sustainable when the lockdown is lifted, but this cannot happen when our engagement with the employees is already prescribed.”
“The Ministry should allow the employers to discuss with their employees and not to be prescribed on what to do.”
Chamber of Mines of Namibia Chief Executive Officer, Veston Malango said the miner’s body had also not been included in Ministry of Labour process when the proposed labour regulations were crafted.
“The Chamber was nowhere consulted and the draft regulations came as a big surprise to us and as an organization, we got them from a third source. We would have expected a big employer for the ministry to have consulted us, which would have been the proper procedures, but that did not happen,” he said.
He said the Chamber has now written to the Ministry of Labour regarding its concern over the proposed promulgations of the regulations in their current form.
“We have made our constructive input so that they can improve on what is there, so that the employees and employers can all be taken of in the directives,” Malango said.
Quizzed if their input is ignored, Malango said “What’s important is that we have submitted our concerns and forewarned them and no one wanted to listen.”
