746 of 999 issues solved

THE Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations resolved 746 of 999 labour complaints received from 2022 to March 2024, says Minister Agni Deo Singh.

He said this in response to an oral question posed in Parliament this week. Mr Singh said the ministry had also conducted 2017 labour compliance inspections from August 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024.

“Achieving 86 per cent of the targets set for the eight months was 2336,” he said.

“Our annual target is 3500 and we now intend to increase this to 4500 or up to 5000. We were not able to do this in the past year because there were 30-plus vacant positions that had not been lled for several years.

“We have now completed that exercise or are almost on the verge of completing that exercise so we can increase the number of inspections.”

He said about 75 per cent of labour complaints were settled.

Mr Singh said these complaints were regarding the non-payment of wages due, annual leave, overtime, meal allowance and maternity leave.

“The ministry has over 600 cases before the Employment Relations Tribunal for adjudication, where employers have failed to pay dues to workers and comply with the minimum standards.

“The total recovery from August 1, 2023, to March 2024 stands at $660,000 which has been paid out to the workers through the efforts of the ministry’s compliance section.”

He said from August 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, the ministry had conducted 2044 awareness trainings to employers.

Out of these, Mr Singh said 2022 were conducted for awareness while 22 were structured training sessions conducted with employees.

“Training in employment relations helps improve working relationships between workers and employers, leading to a more positive work environment. It works with individuals with skills to effectively resolve con icts and disputes that may arise in the workplace.

“Similarly, promoting a better understanding of employment rights and responsibilities, this would contribute to an increase in productivity and efficiency at the workplace.

“We try to bring employers and workers together and bring about the awareness so that they can work together and build their trust in each other, which of course, had been missing for quite some years now.

“We are in the process of rebuilding all that, had that been dismantled because of the amendment of the labour laws that actually disallowed that kind of interaction.”