By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security, in partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO), has held an interactive engagement with employers and employees from across Kenema at the District Council Hall in the city.
Addressing the participants, Deputy Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Allieu Bakar Conteh, said the meeting was designed to discuss employer and employee relationship, noting that over the years the ministry had received several complaints relating to the labour laws of the country.
The Labor ministry has struggled to properly govern the sector which is replete with complaints of abuse of workers and deficiency in output. Part of the problem has been the flagrant disregard for labour laws by some employers and the inaction of the ministry against these employers.
This engagement sought to explain frameworks and responsibilities between the employers and employees, according to officials.
The discussion centered around issues like the minimum wage, workplace safety, contract of employment, resolution of industrial dispute and accident compensation.
“The problems that exist between the workers and their employers are enormous and the bulk of the problems go to government; whether it is a government institution or not. So, the ministry decided to partner with ILO to put measures together on how to mitigate some of these problems,” Conteh said.
He added that they were hoping that the engagement would bring the much-needed clarity and action that is need to fix the problems in the sector.
“We want your input as participants and recommendations, so that the ministry will work on the process to expand on the program, because labor cases are secret threads to peace in certain institutions and communities,” he said.
Administrative and Human Resource Officer at Gold Tree Agricultural Company, Momoh Sheriff, said the employees too share in the blame for wanting to secure jobs without going through the right process of recruitment.
“Most of the employees do not want to go through the right recruitment process, instead they use personal influence with investors and until when there is a conflict before they try to go through the right process. This is a serious challenge that we are facing in Gold Tree Agricultural company,” he said.
Sheriff however admitted that some employers take advantage of the loopholes in the country’s laws to abuse employees. He called on the Labour ministry to identify a period of engagement for certain categories of work, noting that some investors abuse labor laws by overworking workers who have no idea about the required number of hours for certain jobs. He said this way many Sierra Leoneans have been deprived of the minimum wage.
This year the government has already established a social security court which will address labor violations among many other related issues.
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