A second quarterly report of the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation (MLIREC) has shown an increase in the number of employers who issued notices of intent to dismiss their employees.

MLIREC’s acting executive director Lydia Indombo in the report released on Monday said the ministry received notices of intent to dismiss 881 employees from 117 employers from 01 July 2021 to 30 September 2021 which is an increase of 58 per cent, compared to the previous quarter of 55 per cent.

She said: ‘Although the number does not reflect the actual figure of retrenchments as employers are only required to inform the Labour Commissioner on their intention to dismiss, but not the actual number of retrenchments. It leaves much to be desired, especially in the state of the economy that the country finds itself in.’

During the period under review, the ministry dealt with 1 092 labour cases of which 568 (52 per cent) were resolved while 524 (48 per cent) were pending and will be dealt with during the next quarter, she said.

Indombo also said in order to ensure compliance with the provision of the Labour Act No. 11 of 2007, 387 inspections related to basic conditions of employment were conducted in the construction, domestic and informal sectors.

She added that the construction and informal sectors had more compliance levels rated at 75 per cent, while domestic was rated at 53 per cent in terms of compliance. With regards to compliance of occupational health and safety, 207 inspections were conducted in the construction, hospitality, retail and training institution sectors, and the overall compliance level is rated at 16 per cent, which also raises compliance concerns.

‘Namibia, for the first time in history, appeared before the committee on the application of standards on the application of International Labour Organisation Convention on discrimination at the International Labour Conference Session of 2021,’ she noted.

In order to arrest the situation, the ministry has been working hand in hand with the Office of the Ombudsman in order to among others, conduct thorough research in the public sector in order to establish the existence of discrimination pertaining to racism, ethnicity and inequality in employment, said Indombo.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency