WINDHOEK – Standard Bank Namibia signed a new wages and benefits agreement with the Bank Workers Union of Namibia (BAWON), for an 8 percent increase for the bank’s employees effective from March 01, 2014.
The two signed the agreement last week Thursday. The agreement, which comes after two days of negotiations, entails salary increases and related benefits for Standard Bank’s employees for the financial year between March 2014 and February 2015. “This is not a once off relationship between Standard Bank and BAWON. We have agreed to build a sound relationship and will meet on a quarterly basis by coming up with mutually beneficial resolutions,” said Standard Bank Namibia’s Chief Executive, Mpumzi Pupuma. Secretary General of the BAWON Thomas Muchima said “the way both parties interacted in achieving a mutual gain was based on a model of mutual respect and the deep relations we have.”
Standard Bank Namibia’s Head of Human Resources, Isdor Angula, commended the maturity of the parties and the speedy negotiations that recognised the current inflation and macro- and micro-economic situations. “We took an approach of needs-based negotiation and we agreed that protracted negotiations will detract our business from our core focus, our customers whose world we want to move forward through the provision of quality service, therefore we made a commitment to set the benchmark for the financial industry and market in general,” said Angula. The agreement stipulates that an average increase of 8 percent be applied to the basic salaries of all eligible permanent non-managerial employees. It is to be distributed on the principle of pay for performance, measured in terms of the enduring performance management process. The agreement also states that that the monthly contribution by the employer in respect of medical insurance for all permanent non-managerial employees be increased from 50 percent to 67 percent at cost to the employer and that the monthly contribution by all employees as members of Blue be reduced to 33 percent. In terms of rental allowance, the agreement says that the monthly rental allowance currently received by all permanent non-managerial staff who do not qualify for a housing subsidy, as well as those who do not reside in bank owned property be increased from N$300 to N$ 400.
BY Staff Reporter