Employers urged to abide by law

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday 17th November 2011

By ELIZABETH VUVU
EMPLOYERS in East New Britain are being urged to pay the minimum wage rate if they are still knowingly paying workers below the set K2.29 per hour rate.
A non-governmental organisation representative and former trade unionist Patrick Varagat said there had been reports from workers on how their employers and government agencies were still paying them less than the set minimum wage.
He said there were employers that had been disrespectful to workers by not following appropriate disciplinary processes when terminating their employment.
He said some employers even used their power to terminate workers instantly without giving them their right to be heard after they had been alleged to have committed an offence.
Varagat noted another issue on casuals employed in the public and private sector who were still on probation past the required period of three to six months, when they should be entitled to long service leave and other benefits with increases and contributions to superannuation funds.
He applauded the new government through the labour and industrial relations minister’s intentions to increase the national minimum wage of K2.29 to K3.50 per hour.
He said workers were already suffering because the current rate could not sustain their living in a fortnight.
He said even workers could not save with commercial banks given the high prices of goods and services and often resorted to borrowing, which in turn resulted in them having to pay their debts and they had very little saved to cater for the next two weeks.
“This is a viscous cycle and is hurting the wor­kers, hence the labour minister and the National Tripartite Consultative Council or NTCC cannot recommend the rate increase alone as NTCC is only a consultative forum where government representatives, employers and workers meet to discuss and make recommendations on labour and industrial issues in the country.”
Varagat called on the labour department to establish a Minimum Wages Board under the Industrial Relations Act, which should review and make decisions on the proposed increase of the national minimum wage to K3.50 per hour.