The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation says it recorded a 118 increase in disputes to 2,048 cases during the quarter to September 2023.
During the period, the Office of the Labour Commissioner had to deal with a total of 1,082 labour complaints from different employees, mostly on unsettled remunerations and collected around N$594,813 (mostly on unsettled remunerations).
The Ministry in its Basic Conditions of Employment (BCoE) second quarter report said 52% of the cases were successfully resolved, with 70% resolved at the conciliation stage and 30% at the arbitration level.
The report also shed light on the issue of pending cases, citing postponements, ongoing negotiations, and the busy schedules of arbitrators as contributing factors. Despite these challenges, the Ministry said it remains dedicated to timely and fair resolutions.
A noteworthy concern highlighted in the report is the growing trend of non-compliance by registered trade unions and employers’ organisations regarding the submission of annual returns.
“During this quarter, only two annual returns were received,” the report stated, prompting a stern warning through a communique to fulfil this legal obligation by 30 November 2023.
The Basic Conditions of Employment, outlined in the Labour Act (Act No. 11 of 2007), were emphasised as non-negotiable, with the Ministry identifying recurring issues such as overtime, work on Sundays and public holidays, collective agreements, unauthorised deductions, sick leave provision, and non-payment of remuneration.
The report stresses ongoing efforts to educate the public on their rights and responsibilities.
As part of its commitment to transparency and accountability, the Ministry conducted 600 workplace inspections during the quarter to assess BCoE compliance.
The report reveals an overall pleasing compliance rate, with 517 out of the inspected workplaces found to be in compliance.
Noteworthy sectors included fishing with a 100% compliance rate and hospitality with an 86% compliance rate.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Labour Commissioner handled a number of 2,048 labour cases during the quarter.
“The Office is still faced with a challenge of pending cases, whereby it recorded 979 (48%) pending cases this quarter. This is mostly attributed to postponements either by parties or arbitrators; ongoing negotiations by the parties as well as few arbitrators whose dairies are mostly fully booked due to many cases that the Ministry receives,” noted the report.
The Ministry noted that the situation of arbitrators being fully booked with cases also contributes to having insufficient time to prepare and issue Awards within a prescribed legal time.
Thus, of the handled cases, 1,069 (52%) cases were successfully resolved, whereby 747 (70%) cases were resolved at conciliation while 322 (30%) were resolved at the arbitration level.
