The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation has reduced the threshold for Designated Employers from 25 to 10 or above in an effort to address rising unemployment in the country.
As a result, employers in this category will now be required to register with the ministry as DEs and report any vacancies within their organisations in compliance with the Employment Services Act. This change will take effect on September 30th.
According to the Ministry’s Acting Executive Director Otniel Podewiltz, “This will enable the ministry to link the DEs and also to register jobseekers in terms of employment through the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System. Additionally, they are required to submit profiles of establishment on an annual basis.”
To ensure compliance, companies that fail to comply with the new regulations will face fines of up to N$20,000 or imprisonment of two years, or both if convicted.
The change in threshold is intended to promote inclusivity and extend coverage to the informal sector, which makes up a large portion of the Namibian labor force.
It is also expected to increase employment opportunities for jobseekers as more employers will be required to comply with the new requirements.
Last year, the Ministry registered 494 DEs and placed 2,200 jobseekers in various establishments across all sectors.
According to the 2018 labour force survey, Namibia’s unemployment rate stood at 33.4% with a youth unemployment rate of 46.1%, of which men accounted for 43.7% and females for a staggering 48.5%.
