…2,331 of them fight off unfair dismissals
…Commission able to settle 4.6 out of every 10 complaints
By Ernest KISSIEDU
Business Day Ghana can report that the National Labour Commission (NLC) has, since its establishment, received more complaints relating to unfair dismissal or unfair termination of appointment than any other singular labour issue.
This paper’s analysis of data obtained from the NLC spanning the 12-year period of 2005-2016 reveals that three out of every 10 complaints filed by aggrieved workers related to unfair dismissal.
The statistics show that during the period, 2,331 workers complained about unfair termination of appointments by their employers.
The figure represents 29.1% of the 8,004 cases that the NLC received and handled from workers across the country.
The analysis also shows that the NLC has been able to resolve nearly half of all the cases that came to its table from the day the Commission was established.
Responding to our enquiries on why the larger pool of cases was unresolved, Eunice Larwer, Officer in-charge of the Public Affairs Section of the NLC, observed that the commission is not able to settle a lot of the cases because of financial constraints on the part of individuals who filed those cases.
“It’s not lack of capacity but rather that of financial problem that has contributed largely to most of the unresolved cases the NLC has received,” she stated.
The NLC was set up in 2005, under section 135 of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), with its law applying to all workers as well as employers with the exception of the Ghana Armed Forces, Police Service, Prison Service and other Security and Intelligence Agencies provided for under the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act 1996 (Act 526). Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) – now customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is also excluded by a Supreme Court decision.
The NLC’s major mandate includes receiving labour-related complaints, facilitating the settlement of industrial disputes, settling industrial disputes and promoting effective cooperation between labour and management.
The facts
Out of the 8,004 cases received, 3,663 which represent 45.7% of the total number of cases recorded were settled.
This means there is still 54.3% (4,346) of cases recorded yet to be resolved by the NLC.
The complaints received by the NLC are classified under Dismissal, Unfair Termination, Retirement/End of Service, Unpaid Salaries, Workman’s Compensation, Redundancy/Lay-off, Medical and Others.
The NLC data showed that there was no year in which the commission recorded up to 1,000 cases. The closest to the 1000 mark was that of 2010, when the NLC recorded 904 cases; making it the highest number of complaints the commission has received in a single year. This contrasts sharply with figures for year 2005, when the commission recorded the lowest figure of 525 cases.
It terms of classification, complaints relating to medical conditions constituted the lowest figure received over the 12 years – 43 cases.
The commission in 2008 was able to settle the highest number of cases – 441 out of 618 complaints received, representing 71%. Conversely, the fewest number of cases resolved in a year was 51 out of 525 cases in 2005, which represents 9.7%.
Other details include that complaints recorded under unpaid salaries were 717; redundancy/lay-offs cases were 631; and cases classified as “other” issues were 1,971. Dismissal cases were 1,713, retirement/end of service benefits were 401 and workman’s compensations were 197.
No money
Business Day Ghana’s checks indicate that some of the complainants no longer have a desire to follow up on the cases.
The NLC’s Eunice Larwer says “When it comes to the NLC, you have to go through the arbitration level and what is happening is that, the individuals don’t have the money to pay for the arbitration. For the arbitration, you have to pay and that is the problem for many of these employees.”
She added: “We cannot find the money for you. You have to find the money yourself.”
She continued: “Sometimes too, both parties involved in a case don’t cooperate with the commission in the efforts to settle the case. Most cases are between the employer and the employee. We can’t say it’s fair enough but we have tried our best.”
Adding his voice, NLC Data Entry Clerk, Edmund Owusu, indicated that many of these cases are not resolved because those who filed the cases show a lack of interest in pursuing the matter along the line.
“It is normally a form of lack of interest in pursuing the matter by the employees who filed the cases. Also, the filing system in which people channel their complaints is also another factor especially with the filing fees.
“Most of the complainants try to resolve their differences out of the commission. The issue of transportation is another key challenge because whenever the case is called for hearing, the complainant must travel from long distances just to attend the proceedings and this makes them lose interest in pursuing the matter again,” Edmund Owusu noted.
From the labour point of view, Dr. Kennedy A. Achakoma, Head of Education and Training at the Trades Union Congress (TUC), notes that beyond the human resource, the NLC must be adequately resourced and funded to work effectively.
“The NLC is under-resourced. There are several challenges they go through in the discharge of their duties. The manner in which they operate is not the best.
“Though the commission is under-funded and that limits them to some extent, they have been able to settle about 46% of all the cases they received. They have done fairly well,” Dr. Achakoma assessed.
The TUC official said organizations such as the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and NLC must be well-equipped and funded to help improve upon the way they operate.
“We need to improve upon the environment in which these organizations operate. The government alone can’t fund them and that is the reason why other social parties must come on board to sponsor them. Everyone has a role to play in creating awareness for the NLC to be properly funded to work effectively, Dr. Kennedy Achakoma added.
In its position paper on the 2017 Budget issued in March, the TUC cautioned that in order to ensure industrial peace, there is the need for investment in national institutions, such as the NLC, which are at the forefront of industrial relations and social dialogue.
It did not escape its attention that for the 2017 fiscal year, the Ministry of Employment and all its agencies – including the NLC – will receive GHC60.7 million for their operations. This represents 0.001 percent of the total appropriation bill and 0.04 percent of the allocations to the presidency.
In dollar terms, the 2017 allocation to the Ministry is about US$13.1 million compared to a budgetary allocation of the Ghana cedi equivalent of about US$23 million in 2009.
(ernestk@businessdayghana.com)
