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E400 TO BENEFIT 10 237 WORKERS FROM 107 FIRMS

21/06/2020 09:16:00 BY MBONGENI NDLELA

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mbongeni@times.co.sz

MBABANE – Revealed! About 10 237 temporarily laid off workers who are from 107 companies that have approached government for financial assistance due to the effects of COVID-19 will on July 1, 2020, receive a portion of the E25 million set aside as relief compensation.

If you multiply the 10 237 beneficiaries with the E400 they are to receive, government could spend E4 094 800 on the ‘salaries’.
Government has stipulated that it would pay these workers for not more than two months, which means that the maximum a laid off worker can get is E800.
Documents seen by The Times SUNDAY reflect that 57 of the companies that would benefit from the fund are from the Hhohho Region; three are from the Lubombo Region; 38 are from the Manzini Region and four are from the Shiselweni Region.

PAID COME MONTH-END

According to government, these companies have already filed their applications and for now, 63 have been approved after due processes were conducted. As a result, government said a total of 10 237 employees would be paid come month-end. Government has insisted that beneficiaries would strictly be workers who have not received any cash from the employer in the last three-month period.

Thulani Mkhaliphi, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said: “We reiterate that the lay-offs remain temporary and must not be construed as a permanent termination of employment.”
He said employers of the affected workers are expected to submit a claim for payment using a form that can be downloaded from www.gov.sz.

The PS explained that the declaration of a national emergency as a result of the coronavirus culminated into a need to issue, ‘The Guidelines on Employment Contingency Measures in Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, General Notice No. 22 of 2020, which guidelines were issued in terms of Section 32(10) of The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations, Legal Notice No. 72 of 2020.

“These guidelines were issued to assist employers and workers address any uncertainties in respect of payment of salaries, employment status of workers, workplace governance and other pertinent issues which were considered necessary to regulate during this period. Among other objectives, these guidelines promote workplace-related social dialogue (consultations) between employers and workers in respect of all employment contingency measures that are deemed appropriate during the period of partial lockdown or national emergency,” Mkhaliphi wrote in a statement released on June 12.

“We sympathise with social partners since we fully understand how challenging it is for them to manage industrial relations issues these days, more especially concerning the payment of salaries and wages.

EMPLOYMENT MEASURES

“This notwithstanding, we implore all employers to ensure full compliance with the Guidelines on Employment Contingency Measures when implementing their interim employment measures as might be deemed appropriate for their businesses during this difficult period,” he said.
He said the guidelines have been drafted in such a way that they are equally sensitive to the economic challenges which businesses out there are faced with during this time, in as much as they encourage the continued payment of salaries for workers.
“To this extent, provision has been made in the guidelines that where it becomes economically impossible to continue paying salaries for workers, certain measures should be taken by employers to mitigate against the effects of loss of earnings. The continued payment of salaries is not based upon the principle of ‘no-work-no-pay”, but it is conditional upon financial considerations of the business,” he said.

Mkhaliphi explained that the ‘no -work-no-pay’ principle only applies during strike actions, now the workers are not on strike but certain businesses are closed in compliance with the partial lockdown. Again, we reiterate that any contingency measure that is considered possible depending on the financial circumstances of a business, including the one on pay cuts or reduction of payment of salaries, should be taken in full consultation with the workers and the office of the Commissioner of Labour, and should not be imposed upon the workers.

He said if all the options that are meant to mitigate against the effects of loss of earnings as listed in Section 4 of the guidelines have been exhausted, employers are allowed to apply for unpaid lay-offs of their workers in terms of Section 5(a) of the guidelines.

He said such lay-offs applications are directed to the Office of the Commissioner of Labour and should be submitted through email, not physical visits to the ministry.
The PS then commended employers who have demonstrated their commitment to complying with the guidelines.
On another note, Mkhaliphi said 77 companies have so far applied to divert ENPF contribution for April and May 2020.

NOTICE TO DIVERT

He said these companies have so far invoked Section 4 (d) of the guidelines on giving the notice to divert the April and May 2020 ENPF contributions towards cushioning the salaries of employees.
He said 35 of these companies are from the Hhohho Region, 38 from the Manzini Region, with only one from the Lubombo Region and two from the Shiselweni Region. He said one company’s physical address is unknown.
Apart from these applications, the PS said 38 companies have invoked Section 4 (b) of the Guidelines on applying for the release of the bond or security on payment of wages.

These applications are from April 15, 2020 to date.
“It is worth noting that these are promptly processed by the ministry without any pre-requisites. Of these companies, 26 are from the Hhohho Region, 11 are from the Manzini Region and with only one from the Lubombo Region,” he said.
Last week, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), described the E400 relief fund as too meagre.

“The allocation, if meagre, can’t even cover rental costs, which is very basic for a worker to remain within rechargeable distance from employment,” said TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina. Gina told the Times SUNDAY that it would have been better if the money was at least E800 a month to cover half of the workers’ normal monthly wage.