Over N$2m collected in labour complaints

The Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations through its labour inspectorate has recovered over N$2 million on behalf of various employees from their non-compliant employers during the 2024/25 financial year.

The amount collected between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 was part of wage arrears and other statutory entitlements that were unlawfully withheld from employees by their employers across various sectors.

This was announced on Thursday in a statement by the ministry’s chief public relations officer Maria Hedimbi.

“This recovery emanated from 3 317 of the 4 176 labour complaints which were reported to the ministry during the same period. The instances of non-compliance were non-payment of remuneration, non- payment of overtime, non-payment of work done on Sundays/public holidays and/or unauthorised and excessive deductions from employees’ remunerations. This ongoing trend of non-compliance is a great concern to the ministry,” she said.

She said the highest recovery is from the central region (Windhoek, Gobabis, Rehoboth, Okahandja, Omaruru, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay) whereby an amount of N$722 119 was collected.

The smallest amount of N$130 608 was collected from the southern region namely, Mariental, Keetmanshoop, Karasburg, Noordower, Rosh Pinah, Oranjemund and Lüderitz.

The ministry further conducted a total of 1 739 workplace inspections to assess the basic conditions of employment during the same period.

Of these inspections, 1 380 workplaces were found to be compliant while 353 were in contravention with the provisions of labour laws.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.