WINDHOEK- A new minimum wage which is expected to improve the lives of security guards as well as curb and prevent their exploitation came into effect last week on Friday.
The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Doreen Sioka, announced that a new minimum wage for the security sector had been agreed upon, which will improve the living standards of security guards and reduce poverty and income inequality.
Sioka announced the new entry wage level for security guards has been adjusted from N$5 per hour to N$5.30 per hour.
“As for all security officials in the employment at the time of signing the agreement who earned N$5 per hour it will be adjusted to N$6.75 per hour. Security officials will be entitled to premium payment for overtime if they work in excess of their permissible working hours,” she said when she made the announcement in the National Assembly last week on Thursday.
The agreement will stand for a period of two years after which an automatic adjustment of the entry level will be made to N$6.75 and N$7 per hour for those security staff at N$6.75.
The parties involved in the agreement are the Security Association of Namibia (SAN) – and the three representative trade unions, namely, the Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (NATAWU), Namibia Security Guards and Watchmen’s Union (NSGWU) and Namibia Independent Security Union (NISU) have also asked that the collective agreement be extended to non-parties.
“The consequences of such extension would be that the agreement would supply and bind all security companies and be applicable to security officers. We have started the statutory process that could lead to the extension of the agreement to the entire security industry,” further stated Sioka.
In June, a collective agreement providing for an improved entry-level minimum wage for agricultural workers was signed. That agreement provides for an entry-level minimum wage for agricultural employees of N$3.70 per hour, plus rations or a food allowance of N$400.
If an employee works 180 hours, that employee will earn N$666 monthly plus an additional allowance of N$400 which translates to a total earning of N$1 066 monthly excluding overtime and Sunday work. Sioka said the two agreements are only minimum wages and that parties are free to negotiate higher wages for experienced and more skilled employees.
“The new minimum wages are still quite modest and further increases, beyond the living cost, are needed to ensure a decent standard of living for employees in these two important sectors of our economy,” she said.
For those who fail to implement the new minimum wages, Sioka warned that extensive workplace inspections will be carried out at security companies and farms to ascertain whether the employers are paying the minimum wages and to promote compliance by educating employers and employees about their rights and obligations with respect to the minimum wages.