Budget cuts cost 46 SSC jobs
A group of 46 contract workers at the Social Security Commission (SSC) were informed in December that their contracts will not be renewed at the end of February.
The affected employees, most of them administrative assistants, claim that some of them have worked for the commission for more than five years and their contracts have been renewed every year.
In a letter dated December 2017, SSC human resources manager Yulanda Marais informed the staff that the SSC was terminating their contracts because their line ministry, the labour ministry, had failed to approve the budget for their positions.
They were urged to reapply once these posts were re-advertised.
“This is to inform you that your services as per your employment contract will come to an end as at 28 February 2018 and your contract will not be renewed.
“As discussed, the human resources team will support you to build a professional CV, with an in-house reference letter. A PDA assessment to provide a personal profile of yourself to prospective employers will be arranged for you by the HR team.
“Furthermore the HR team will put you into contact with a recruitment agency in Windhoek to ensure you are absorbed in the labour market,” the letter stated.
The SSC's CEO, Milka Mungunda, promised to comment by the close of business yesterday but no response was received.
The affected employees say the commission has “betrayed” them, stating that when they were recruited they were promised positions in proposed human capital projects that were waiting for ministerial approval.
The workers have written letters to President Hage Geingob, labour minister Erkki Nghimtina and the SSC board urging them to intervene in the matter.
Affected employees told Namibian Sun that they had been with the commission for many years performing duties that were within the commission's mandate, but the commission denied them the opportunity to be employed permanently.
“We feel used, as they have kept us doing the work we have done and renewing our contracts for years and now they are sending us into the streets. We are standing here to bring this to your attention that SSC has contravened the Labour Act and we believe that as the minister responsible for labour, you should take serious action this matter,” their letter to Nghimtina read.
ILENI NANDJATO
The affected employees, most of them administrative assistants, claim that some of them have worked for the commission for more than five years and their contracts have been renewed every year.
In a letter dated December 2017, SSC human resources manager Yulanda Marais informed the staff that the SSC was terminating their contracts because their line ministry, the labour ministry, had failed to approve the budget for their positions.
They were urged to reapply once these posts were re-advertised.
“This is to inform you that your services as per your employment contract will come to an end as at 28 February 2018 and your contract will not be renewed.
“As discussed, the human resources team will support you to build a professional CV, with an in-house reference letter. A PDA assessment to provide a personal profile of yourself to prospective employers will be arranged for you by the HR team.
“Furthermore the HR team will put you into contact with a recruitment agency in Windhoek to ensure you are absorbed in the labour market,” the letter stated.
The SSC's CEO, Milka Mungunda, promised to comment by the close of business yesterday but no response was received.
The affected employees say the commission has “betrayed” them, stating that when they were recruited they were promised positions in proposed human capital projects that were waiting for ministerial approval.
The workers have written letters to President Hage Geingob, labour minister Erkki Nghimtina and the SSC board urging them to intervene in the matter.
Affected employees told Namibian Sun that they had been with the commission for many years performing duties that were within the commission's mandate, but the commission denied them the opportunity to be employed permanently.
“We feel used, as they have kept us doing the work we have done and renewing our contracts for years and now they are sending us into the streets. We are standing here to bring this to your attention that SSC has contravened the Labour Act and we believe that as the minister responsible for labour, you should take serious action this matter,” their letter to Nghimtina read.
ILENI NANDJATO
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article