Labour inspectors attended to and resolved 3 486 (73%) of 4 793 complaints, of which N$2 83 million has been recovered from employers on behalf of complainants.
The unresolved complaints (27%) were referred to the office of the labour commissioner for arbitration.
This was announced by labour minister Utoni Nujoma in the National Assembly last week when he briefed the House on some of the ministry’s achievements during the 2021/22 financial year.
Nujoma said 2 582 workplace inspections were conducted during the 2021/2022 financial year, with an overall compliance of 1 399 (54%) across the different sectors for both occupational safety and health and conditions of employment.
Meanwhile, 1 577 inspections were to verify compliance with basic conditions of employment, of which 1 158 (73%) complied and 1 005 inspections were to verify compliance with health and safety standards as well the safety of the dangerous machinery.
Only 241 (24%) of these complied respectively.
The ministry further investigated the recorded 13 notifications of occupational accidents, of which eight are major accidents and five fatal accidents during the 2021/2022 financial year.
Equally, investigations into five out of eight major workplace accidents have been completed and reports have been produced while three investigations are still ongoing.
“One completed investigation report has been submitted to the prosecutor general’s office for further handling, while two reports are yet to be finalised for submission to the prosecutor general’s office. Investigations on the two fatal accidents are still ongoing,” he reported.
The Employment Equity Commission carried out 156 stakeholder engagements; reviewed and approved about 904 of the 1 043 affirmative action reports which were submitted by relevant employers.
This he said translates to 87%; conducted 45 workplace visits; and processed about 14 923 applications for confirmation of non-relevant employer’s status to afford the business community especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Nujoma sees this as an opportunity to participate in some important public processes such as public tenders; the progress made towards the review of the affirmative action law is at 80%, with the assistance of the ILO technical team, expected to finalise the process during the first quarter of this financial year (2022/23).
Subsequently, submission of the proposed amendments will be presented to parliament (through Cabinet) for possible consideration.
Moreover, 5 182 labour cases were handled by the labour commissioner, of which 1 647 cases were from the previous financial year.
Out of the total cases handled, 2 966 disputes were referred to conciliation and arbitration in all regions and 1 865 were resolved through conciliation while 596 were resolved through arbitration proceedings.
In addition, 569 cases were referred back for corrections and or rejected as they were referred out of the prescribed period.
“The settlement rate of cases during the conciliation process (win-win scenario) has been 78% or more which leaves only 22% of cases to be resolved through the arbitration, which is more of a win-lose situation,” the minister said.
A total of 95 arbitration awards were appealed against and or taken on review at the Labour Court in terms of Section 89 of the Labour Act, 2007.
Only one trade union (Namibia Revolutionary Transport Union) was registered in August 2021 by the labour commissioner during the period 01 April 2021- 31 March 2022, as other applications are still being reviewed to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Labour Act.
During 2021/22, three industrial actions and two demonstrations were recorded.
– anakale@nepc.com.na