Justice and Labour Relations Minister Fillemon Wise Immanuel say his ministry is pursuing a lasting resolution to the employment dispute involving nearly
2 000 workers placed at RANI Group Company but employed by Employment Placement Services Namibia (EPSN), with engagements between the parties ongoing.
In an interview with New Era on Sunday, Immanuel said the matter had dragged on for too long and that the ministry wanted to resolve it through social dialogue to protect workers’ dignity, job security and livelihoods.
“This situation has gone on for far too long. We seek to bring it to finality through social dialogue, because for all practical reasons workers’ dignity, job security and livelihoods cannot remain in limbo indefinitely,” he said.
The dispute concerns the employment arrangements of workers reportedly placed at RANI while remaining employees of EPSN. The minister has been pushing for the matter to be addressed, including consideration of whether the workers should become direct employees of RANI.
Immanuel said constructive engagements were continuing between the ministry’s team, EPSN and RANI, with the affected employees also involved in the process.
“What I know at this moment is that constructive engagements are ongoing between the ministry’s team, EPSN and RANI, by extension, the affected employees in good faith, and I remain optimistic that the process will deliver a lasting resolution and improved employment conditions for the workers, and to the pleasure of other interested parties,” he said.
The minister did not indicate that a final agreement had been reached, but expressed optimism that the ongoing discussions would produce a lasting solution and improve workers’ employment conditions.
Law
Immanuel said the effectiveness of legislation in protecting workers depended on how it was applied by those responsible for implementing it.
“However one looks at it, the law is meant to be a transformative pathway to justice,” he said.
He added that the impact of the law depended on the people responsible for applying it and their willingness to pursue meaningful change.
“The outcome and extent of its impact is therefore dependent on whose hands the statute book is, and how sensibly radical are the hands,” he said.
Immanuel said his ministry believed that this approach could help secure workers’ rights.
He said the objective was to achieve a meaningful resolution through the law and engagement with the parties involved.
EPSN licence
The dispute has also raised the possibility of regulatory action against EPSN under the Employment Services Act, 2011 (Act No. 8, 2011).
Section 22(1) of the Act empowers the director responsible for employment services to cancel a private employment agency’s licence if it fails to comply with the Act, its licence conditions, or prescribed requirements.
Section 22(2) requires the agency to be notified of the intention to cancel its licence and given 30 days to make representations before a decision is taken on the specified grounds.
Immanuel has directed that EPSN be notified of the intention to consider cancelling its licence or declining its renewal and be given an opportunity to explain why such action should not be taken.
He said the proposed action does not mean that EPSN’s licence has been cancelled. The agency must be given an opportunity to respond, and the relevant authority must consider the applicable legal requirements before making a decision.
Immanuel said his objective is to bring the long-running matter to finality while securing improved employment conditions for the workers involved.
-ljason@nepc.com.na
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