News / by Gladys Frimpomaa [ Ghanaiantimes] November 15, 2016
The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has asked employers to provide full time employment to casual workers who have served beyond the mandatory six-month period.
He gave this directive at a press conference in Accra to announce a two-day stakeholders’ forum on the informal economy scheduled for November 16–17 at the Accra International Conference Centre, in Accra.
“Per the Labour Act, the appointments of persons who have worked with any establishment after six months should be regularised,” he explained.
Mr. Iddrisu noted that employers in the private sector were the worst offenders, as they continued to engage the services of casual workers beyond the mandated six months duration, and said the ministry would impose stringent measures against such institutions.
“Employers must respect the Labour Act,” he stated, warning that the ministry would not spare any institution whose actions contradicted the labour law.
“I am aware some institutions, especially those in the private sector have failed to permanently employ persons who have served beyond the mandated six months period, the ministry would soon expose them and put them before the law,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu said the ministry was equipping its monitoring team with the needed logistics and personnel to carry the exercise, adding that about 50 university graduates would soon be employed to increase the number for effective monitoring.
Touching on the significance of the forum, he said it would strengthen the potential to create employment opportunities and promote the rights of workers.
The chairman of the Local Organising Committee of Ghana’s transition from informal to formal economy, Mr Eben Anuwa-Amarh, said about 120 high level personalities would be present to dialogue and share ideas on how to transform Ghana’s informal economy.
He said the forum was expected to help strengthen data collection and the monitoring capacity of the informal economy and adoption of an action plan, recommendations and suggestion.
By Bernard Benghan
