New minimum wage for farmworkers
The minimum pay of N$1 400 per month is for entry-level workers and the real average pay on commercial farms is higher.
The minimum wage for farmworkers has been increased by 25% and will come into force on 1 November this year.
This follows successful negotiations that took place last week between the Agricultural Employers Association (AEA), Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union (NECFU) and Namibia Farmworkers Union (NAFWU).
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), consensus was reached to raise the minimum wage by 25% from the 2014 rate.
According to the union, the minimum cash wage increased from N$3.70 to N$4.62 per hour, or N$900 per month, for a worker who works 45 hours per week.
For employers who do not give free rations, the ration allowance increases from N$400 to N$500 per month. The total minimum pay is thus now N$1 400 per month.
To calculate the value of free rations an average price of N$30 per kilogram of meat and N$6 per litre of milk was taken into consideration, according to the NAU.
Other free products are calculated at cost price. The allowances for housing, sanitation and water facilities as well as electricity (if available) have not changed.
“The AEA is of the opinion that unskilled workers on farms are better off than in other industries as farmworkers usually get free housing, rations, water and firewood while workers in other industries have to pay a lot for this.”
The aim of the farmworkers' minimum wage is a starting wage for workers engaged without experience.
The real average basic salary of farmworkers on commercial farms was already N$1 975 per month, inclusive ration value, according to the 2016 AEA wage report.
“This is 41% more than the minimum wage which will now come into force on 1 November,” said the NAU.
The report is published every second year by the AEA to determine the average wages farmworkers receive on commercial farms.
The report further pointed out that over the past 14 years the total remuneration package for farmworkers in Namibia has not even doubled, while farmworkers on some commercial farms in Namibia are still being underpaid, two years after the national minimum wage for farmworkers was implemented.
According to the report out of the 3 497 employees represented in the survey, a total of 57 employees (2.28%) in this survey received a cash wage below the minimum hourly rate of N$3.7 that came into force on 1 July 2014.
These workers were paid between N$2.02 and N$3.69 per hour.
The survey on the other hand noted that whereas the current minimum wage agreement is N$3.70, on average farmworkers in Namibia received N$6.90 in 2015/16.
The survey said that the average basic monthly monetary remuneration of permanent employees on commercial farms amounted to N$1 975.12, while the total remuneration package of permanent employees on commercial farms amounted to N$3 320.64 on average.
ELLANIE SMIT
This follows successful negotiations that took place last week between the Agricultural Employers Association (AEA), Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU), Namibia Emerging Commercial Farmers Union (NECFU) and Namibia Farmworkers Union (NAFWU).
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), consensus was reached to raise the minimum wage by 25% from the 2014 rate.
According to the union, the minimum cash wage increased from N$3.70 to N$4.62 per hour, or N$900 per month, for a worker who works 45 hours per week.
For employers who do not give free rations, the ration allowance increases from N$400 to N$500 per month. The total minimum pay is thus now N$1 400 per month.
To calculate the value of free rations an average price of N$30 per kilogram of meat and N$6 per litre of milk was taken into consideration, according to the NAU.
Other free products are calculated at cost price. The allowances for housing, sanitation and water facilities as well as electricity (if available) have not changed.
“The AEA is of the opinion that unskilled workers on farms are better off than in other industries as farmworkers usually get free housing, rations, water and firewood while workers in other industries have to pay a lot for this.”
The aim of the farmworkers' minimum wage is a starting wage for workers engaged without experience.
The real average basic salary of farmworkers on commercial farms was already N$1 975 per month, inclusive ration value, according to the 2016 AEA wage report.
“This is 41% more than the minimum wage which will now come into force on 1 November,” said the NAU.
The report is published every second year by the AEA to determine the average wages farmworkers receive on commercial farms.
The report further pointed out that over the past 14 years the total remuneration package for farmworkers in Namibia has not even doubled, while farmworkers on some commercial farms in Namibia are still being underpaid, two years after the national minimum wage for farmworkers was implemented.
According to the report out of the 3 497 employees represented in the survey, a total of 57 employees (2.28%) in this survey received a cash wage below the minimum hourly rate of N$3.7 that came into force on 1 July 2014.
These workers were paid between N$2.02 and N$3.69 per hour.
The survey on the other hand noted that whereas the current minimum wage agreement is N$3.70, on average farmworkers in Namibia received N$6.90 in 2015/16.
The survey said that the average basic monthly monetary remuneration of permanent employees on commercial farms amounted to N$1 975.12, while the total remuneration package of permanent employees on commercial farms amounted to N$3 320.64 on average.
ELLANIE SMIT
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article