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MBABANE – Yesterday, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Phila Buthelezi, commissioned 18 tripartite Wages Councils for the period 2023 to 2026.
These are for the various economic sectors of the country. Each council comprises of independent members from which the chairperson comes.
In that particular council, there are employers and employees’ representatives, respectively.
The commissioning event took place at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade Auditorium, where each council was represented by its chairperson.
The minister called upon all Wages Councils to ensure that they came up the standard of negotiations with a view to come up with salaries and conditions of service which were at least measured and not below the prevailing standard of living in the country.
Consider
Buthelezi urged the councils to do all they could to consider all those factors that play a key role during collective bargaining processes in determining the levels of salary increments and other conditions of service - such as inflation rate, cost/standard of living, including transport costs to and from work, accommodation costs and subsistence, among other factors.
He said to the extent possible and where necessary, the councils should do a benchmarking exercise on similar industries within the region with a view to ascertain their rates of pay and similar conditions of service.
Buthelezi urged the councils to be mindful of time. He said the normal target for Wages Councils to complete their negotiations was usually a period not exceeding three months.
He said realising that they were already behind time; the ministry would appreciate to receive the first draft regulations to publish for wide stakeholders’ inputs at least by end of May this year.
He said this target would ensure that this exercise was completed by July, taking into account the fact that the adverts for stakeholders inputs should, as per statute, lie open for a period of a month – this would be done in June.
Buthelezi requested the various councils to pay attention to the issue of gazetting, through the Regulations of Wages Orders, public holidays that were ‘recognised or not recognised’ by that particular sector, as has been the case for a long time now.
The minister said there were emerging legal arguments that were saying it was not within the purview of Wages Councils to do that since the declaration of public holidays was done through a distinct legislation (Public Holidays Act) by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Buthelezi also said once a public holiday was declared, no employer could then come up to say they did not recognise that particular public holiday, as doing so would be unlawful.
“Please consider this issue and advice the ministry in your final recommendations or draft regulations, taking into account the reasons for which this has been done for many years now,” he said.
Prior to assigning the duties to the councils, Buthelezi highlighted that the tripartite format of Wages Councils ensures the full representation of all stakeholders in the process of fixing minimum wages in all eighteen regulated sectors.
He said employer representatives, worker representatives and independent members negotiate and fix industry wages and terms and conditions.
Hindered
He also noted that historically, the ability of the Wages Councils to effectively discharge their mandate had been hindered by factors such as lack of negotiation skills, availability of funds for periodic training and capacity building and other logistical and infrastructural challenges.
“However, in the past years and notably even during a worldwide pandemic, the ministry managed to facilitate negotiations, adapting to emerging situations while adhering to Eswatini’s national COVID-19 protocols,” he said.
Buthelezi mentioned that this level of commitment should continue to be the trend going forward, as the annual fixing of wages benefits not only workers, but also their respective industries or employers as well as the country’s growing economy.
The minister said the impact of the consistent activities of the Wages Councils had been strengthened and improved industrial relations and working conditions across industries and a notably smoother negotiation process.
“This, of course, is in keeping with the objectives of the Eswatini’s Decent Work Country Programme 2022-2025 which places decent work at the centre of policies for sustainable and inclusive growth,” said the minister.
Some of the functions of Wages Councils envisaged by legislation, they include the following:
(a) set minimum terms and conditions of employment, including minimum rates of remuneration;
(b) provide for the adjustment of remuneration by way of minimum rates or minimum increases; regulate the manner, timing, and other conditions of payment of remuneration; (c) (d)
prohibit or regulate payment of remuneration in kind; require employers to keep employment records; require employers to provide employment records to their employees; prohibit or regulate task-based work, piecework, homework, subcontracting and contract work;
(h) set minimum standards for housing and sanitation for employees who reside on their employers’ premises; regulate payment of travelling and other work-related allowances; specify minimum conditions of employment for trainees;
(k) specify minimum conditions of employment for persons other than employees; regulate training and education schemes;
(m) regulate pension, provident fund,
medical aid, sick pay, holiday. (e) (f) (g) (i) (j) (l)