Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Permanent Secretary Chanda Kaziya says the Ministry has put in place measures to exempt certain provisions of the law so that employers can have some form of relief.
Mr Kaziya said that the Ministry has also given an opportunity to employers to apply for further exemptions provided that the financial position of the company is provided and approved by the Ministry so that exemptions are based on reality rather than emotions.
He said that during the Tripartite Consultative Labour Council meeting, the Ministry agreed that if the business is not doing well employees can be sent on forced leave provided that they pay the workers basic salaries.
Mr Kaziya said the Ministry has also exempted provision of gratuity to senior management so one can choose to have a contract that does not have gratuity.
He said that consent is everything in employee relationship and that employers should dialogue with their employees stating exactly the financial challenges the company is facing so that they can consent to adjustment that need to be made..
Mr Kaziya also said that Trade Unions discuss with employers and employees to reduce certain benefits for the sake of making business to survive but should be based on transparency.
He said the Ministry ensures that consent is not forced and that if an employee is not sure with the agreement made can come through to the ministry were they will be advised.
Meanwhile, Mr Kaziya said that the Ministry has taken the sector based minimum wage approach so as to deal with challenges been faced in a particular sector rather than using the same yardstick for each sector.
