Redundancy: Analysis of the Ghana Labour law

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Samuel 10 years ago

Thanks for the enlightenment. I trust labour experts and gov't will take a critical look at our labour laws to trim the rough edges. The Ghanaian worker deserves the best.

Thanks for the enlightenment. I trust labour experts and gov't will take a critical look at our labour laws to trim the rough edges. The Ghanaian worker deserves the best.
Kwame 10 years ago

Ms. Eunice Aidoo, Redundancy and Dismissal are not one and the same thing. Whiles redundancy can be said to be a form of severance of relations between a company and employee, which can also be said to be end-of-service, term ...
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Ms. Eunice Aidoo, Redundancy and Dismissal are not one and the same thing. Whiles redundancy can be said to be a form of severance of relations between a company and employee, which can also be said to be end-of-service, terminal or end of contract. Dismissal in Ghanaian Human Resource Management practice means that the employee is leaving the service of the company as a result of causing a serious misconduct which is missing in the case of redundancy.
Thus in the case of both dismissal and redundancy there is a severance of relations between the company and the employee, in the former the employer does not have any obligation to settle the employee, whiles in the latter the employer is obliged to settle the employee, and to go further to engage him/her with reduction in mostly terms of condition of service, in terms of mostly none-monetary entitlement.
Section 65 of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651 states: 65 (1) When an employer contemplates the introduction of major changes in production, programme, organisation, structure or technologies of and undertaking that are likely to entail termination of employment of workers in the undertaking, the employer shall.(Note that it is stated termination and not dismissal of an employee).
(a( provide in writing to the Chief Labour Officer and the trade union concerned, not later than three months not latter than three months before the contemplated changes, all relevant information including the reasons for any termination, the number of categories of workers likely to be affected and the period within which any termination is to be carried out; and (so contrary to what you wrote the law provides that the period for consultation between workers and employer in terms of redundancy shall be a period of three months or more. It is even a fact that redundancy benefits are already renegotiated between the employer and the representatives of the employee and are enshrined in most collective agreement.
Thus in most cases the consultation between the employer and the worker becomes only a formality or that the unions are just there to make sure that the real people to be affected by the redundancy are those selected and terminated.
(b) consult the trade union concerned on measures to be taken to avert or minimize the termination as well as measures to mitigate the adverse effects of any termination on the workers concerned such as finding alternative employment. It is on record that there are a lot of unemployed people in the U.K. most as a result of having their appointment terminated, and under the current austerity measures some workers are not entitled to redundancy benefits, or is there any room made to find alternative work for them. However the fact remain that even companies that change ownership in Ghana has the majority of the workforce which was existing prior to the arrangement still in employment, having gainfully invest their redundancy or terminal benefits.
(2) Without prejudice to the subsection (1), where and undertaking is closed down or undergoes an arrangement or amalgamation and the close down, arrangement or amalgamation causes
(a) severance of the legal relationship of worker and employer as it existed immediately before the close down, arrangement or amalgamation; and
(b) as a result and in addition to the severance that worker becomes unemployed or suffers diminution in the terms of conditions of employment,
the worker is entitled to be paid by the undertaking at which that worker was immediately employed prior to the close down, arrangement or amalgamation, compensation, in this section referred to as "redundancy pay".
Ms. Eunice Aidoo, it will be noted that whiles the Labour laws fix a lump sum to be paid to workers, for instance in the case of workmen's compensation workers who earn more that the fixed amount are cheated. So the same will be the case if redundancy benefits are to be fixed by law in Ghana. The redundancy law in Ghana does not exempt any worker from the payment of severance award due to the number of years the person served in a company. It will be noted that even in the Workmen's Compensation Act workers who are in service for less than one year are entitled to more compensation than those who are one year and more in the service of the employer.
(3) In determining whether a worker has suffered any diminution in his or her terms and conditions of employment, account shall be taken of the past services and accumulated benefits, if any, of the worker in respect of the employment with the undertaking before the changes were carried out.
(4) The amount of redundancy pay and the terms and conditions of payment are matters which are subject to negotiation between the employer or a representative of the employer on the one hand and the worker or the trade union concerned on the other.
It should be noted that in the Collective Agreement before me a worker declared redundant is entitled to 25% of his|her annual salary/wage times the number of years of service. It means that a worker who worked for two years is entitled to 50% of his/her annual salary as redundancy benefit.
Ms. Eunice Aiddo, whiles you wrote about a better condition of redundancy for British citizens, however you did not state the amount or terms.
Ms. Eunice Aidoo, it is assumed that due to globalization we are supposed to copy what exist elsewhere, which may include having a monarchy, women being paid less than men for the same kind of work. However under the same globalization Ghanaians can not decide to elect or select a monarchy today because the whole world will come on us with full force of arms.
Under the same globalisation, we are supposed to twist our laws to conform with those of our former colonial master, even if our laws ban racial discrimination and segregation, which still remains in the U.K.
Ms. Eunice Aidoo you fail to get us informed of the number of workers who are declared redundant in a year, numbers who are found alternative employment and which number is reengaged by such companies.
Kojo T 10 years ago

Who is to be consulted if there are no Unions?

Who is to be consulted if there are no Unions?
Abeeku Mensah 10 years ago

The problem with Ghana's employment laws did not come about because of a comparative analysis of the laws in Ghana Vs UK but because Ghanaians who study in UK (in the Diaspora in general) return to Ghana to engage in nation b ...
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The problem with Ghana's employment laws did not come about because of a comparative analysis of the laws in Ghana Vs UK but because Ghanaians who study in UK (in the Diaspora in general) return to Ghana to engage in nation building and or transformation of existing Ghanaian institutions based on ideas and ideals from UK without the requisite understanding of the role culture and environment plays with such transformations. In UK the number of private entities and non- profit organization outnumber government jobs albeit government hold all the powers of formulating laws of the nation.
In Ghana it is a joke even to assume there are truly private businesses if one considers the fact that majority of these business incomes come from the national coffers and nowhere else. Why then must the laws of Ghana be modeled after those of UK? More often than not these transplanted Ghanaian intellectuals with their acquired intellect from UK work for the Ghanaian government. Embarking on their so-called transformative ideas eventually pushes then into typical quandary. The rules of the game they so desire to transform, they find, will eventually go against the very government in Ghana they work for. It is therefore in their interest to leave these rule/statutes hollow and meaningless. It is the education of acquiring book knowledge without practical approach and application that is the downfall of a nation like Ghana that continues to model its national existence after its colonial masters when we fail repeatedly to ensure existing institutions that are free from political shenanigans.
Kwame 10 years ago

Thanks, Abeeku Mensah.

Thanks, Abeeku Mensah.
Jenirwa 10 years ago

Couldn't agree with you better. Various aspects of Act 651 have loose ends.We need to debate this more and push for amendments.

Couldn't agree with you better. Various aspects of Act 651 have loose ends.We need to debate this more and push for amendments.
Abb 10 years ago

Yes i agreed to this article in its totality.Sometimes i just wonder what our leaders are thinking, there are many holes in the labour act.We need to revisit it again.Just Think of Act 65 it is bogus

Yes i agreed to this article in its totality.Sometimes i just wonder what our leaders are thinking, there are many holes in the labour act.We need to revisit it again.Just Think of Act 65 it is bogus
Kofi 9 years ago

Thank you for the insight.Please are contract staffs safeguarded by the terms of Act 165,Act 2003 sec 65 of the labour act?
Can contract staffs be ask to go home after the end of their contract without redundancy allowances ...
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Thank you for the insight.Please are contract staffs safeguarded by the terms of Act 165,Act 2003 sec 65 of the labour act?
Can contract staffs be ask to go home after the end of their contract without redundancy allowances when the is a redundancy?
Charlotte Kwei 7 years ago

What compensation is due contract staff when an employer contemplate redundancy?

What compensation is due contract staff when an employer contemplate redundancy?
Frank 7 years ago

Something must be done about this law because the employers are cheating us to much.I have been redundant this November and the money am taking home is so annoying.

Something must be done about this law because the employers are cheating us to much.I have been redundant this November and the money am taking home is so annoying.

Redundancy: Analysis of the Ghana Labour law

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