Labour Bill back to the drawing board

THE draft of a new Labour Bill, which has been roundly criticised, has been referred back to the legal drafters, The Namibian has learnt.

A Labour Advisory Council meeting last week revealed numerous shortcomings and technical errors which the drafters need to reexamine. “The 2004 Labour Act was already [full of] shortcomings and only a few sections could be implemented,” an employer who attended the meeting said.”Now that it has been rewritten in the form of a new Bill it still contains so many mistakes,” the employer told this newspaper.The biggest bone of contention in the 2006 draft is that employers may not be represented by their lawyers or senior managers of their own company during arbitration sessions resulting from labour disputes.They are compelled to appear in person.Yesterday, an official in the Labour Ministry would neither confirm nor deny that the bill had been referred back to the drafters and that its tabling in the National Assembly would possibly be delayed as a result.”The media will be informed accordingly when the time is there,” the official, who refused to divulge his name, told The Namibian.The Ministry of Labour sent a copy of the new draft three weeks ago to the business sector, which is represented by the Namibia Employers’ Federation (NEF) and the Namibia Employers’ Association (NEA), for scrutiny.Cabinet gave permission to Labour Minister Alfeus Naruseb on September 12 to table the 2006 draft before year-end.Approached for comment yesterday, Tim Parkhouse, Secretary General of the NEF, could not say whether the bill would make it to Parliament this year.”The NEF submitted a 10-page document to the Labour Advisory Council at last week’s meeting and we discussed various points of the new draft, Parkhouse told this newspaper.”We could not finish all points and the meeting continued the next day.We are now waiting for the official minutes of that meeting and feedback from the Labour Ministry,” Parkhouse added.He said he did not know whether the legal drafters in the Office of the Attorney General would “rework” the draft bill.”The matter is now in the hands of the Labour Minister,” was all he would say.”The 2004 Labour Act was already [full of] shortcomings and only a few sections could be implemented,” an employer who attended the meeting said.”Now that it has been rewritten in the form of a new Bill it still contains so many mistakes,” the employer told this newspaper.The biggest bone of contention in the 2006 draft is that employers may not be represented by their lawyers or senior managers of their own company during arbitration sessions resulting from labour disputes.They are compelled to appear in person.Yesterday, an official in the Labour Ministry would neither confirm nor deny that the bill had been referred back to the drafters and that its tabling in the National Assembly would possibly be delayed as a result.”The media will be informed accordingly when the time is there,” the official, who refused to divulge his name, told The Namibian.The Ministry of Labour sent a copy of the new draft three weeks ago to the business sector, which is represented by the Namibia Employers’ Federation (NEF) and the Namibia Employers’ Association (NEA), for scrutiny.Cabinet gave permission to Labour Minister Alfeus Naruseb on September 12 to table the 2006 draft before year-end.Approached for comment yesterday, Tim Parkhouse, Secretary General of the NEF, could not say whether the bill would make it to Parliament this year.”The NEF submitted a 10-page document to the Labour Advisory Council at last week’s meeting and we discussed various points of the new draft, Parkhouse told this newspaper.”We could not finish all points and the meeting continued the next day.We are now waiting for the official minutes of that meeting and feedback from the Labour Ministry,” Parkhouse added.He said he did not know whether the legal drafters in the Office of the Attorney General would “rework” the draft bill.”The matter is now in the hands of the Labour Minister,” was all he would say.