Employers urged to make terms of engagement clear to employees

The National Labour Commission (NLC) on Tuesday urged employers in the country to engage persons with the right qualifications and to clearly spell out their conditions of service to reduce disputes.

Mr Ofosu Asamoah, the Executive Secretary of the NLC, speaking at a workshop organised by the Ghana Employers' Association (GEA) in Accra, said employers should make a good assessment of potential employees by knowing and examining their capabilities.

He said when initial assessments were done before any dispute came up, it would be easier to negotiate terms as the first step to resolve disputes in an organisational setting.

Mr Asamoah urged the employers to desist from engaging relatives, especially those who were not qualified for the position.

He noted that many employers hired people who have affiliations with them but not because they qualified for the job, adding that such people usually did not have the requisite knowledge on the demands of the job, which could create disputes.

Mr Alex Frimpong, the Chief Executive Officer of GEA, in his address said disputes were inevitable at the workplace but the most important thing to do when disputes came up was to resolve them amicably.

He said the workshop was meant to sensitise employers on the existing laws and also help them to understand the clear procedure adopted by the Labour Act towards dispute resolution at the workplace.

Mr Frimpong said disputes could be very expensive and that it could create problems for an organisation, adding that there was the need for employers to lay down measures to reduce disputes at the workplaces.

On his part, Justice Peter K. Ababio, a Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, said that the Labour Law had set out the types of termination of employment to guide organisations in settling disputes.

He said section 62 of the Labour Act states that a termination of a worker’s employment was fair if the contract employment was terminated by the employer when the worker was incompetent or lacked the qualification in relation to the work for which he/she was employed.

Justice Ababio said a worker’s employment was terminated unfairly if the only reason for the termination was that he/she has joined, intends to join or had seized to be a member of a trade union or intends to take part in the activities of a trade union.

Mr Joshua Ansah, the Deputy Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said “as organised labour, as trade unions, and as workers, we would continue to work hand in hand with our employers so that we can together continue developing the workplace that will affect the development of this country.”

He said employers ought to demonstrate good leadership by resolving disputes internally and not let them degenerate.

He urged Government to adequately resource Labour Department, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, and Inspectorate Division to enable carry out their mandates as expected and further contribute towards reducing disputes at the workplace.