The National Labour Commission has opened an office in Tema to serve as the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Commission. The opening of the office also saw the inauguration of the Committee of the Commission in the Tema Metropolitan Area. The Office is located at the Mayflower House in Community 10 Tema.
The Three-Member Tripartite Regional Committee of the Commission is charged with the responsibility to facilitate the settlement of industrial disputes and to settle industrial disputes. The Committee is to also use the ADR process of mediation and arbitration to settle industrial disputes.
The establishment of the Committee is in pursuance of Section 144 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which enjoins the National Labour Commission to establish Regional and District Committees of the Commission.
The Tema Regional office is to service complainants of industrial disputes in Tema and its environs.
The Members of the Regional Labour Committee are Mr. Akature Ania, representing Employers Organization, Mr. Samuel Dortey Larnyoh representing Organised Labour and Hon. Dr Charles Y. Brempong-Yeboah representing Government.
The Committee Members were sworn into office by His Lordship Justice Emmanuel Ankamah, a Tema High Court Judge. They took both the Oath of Office and Oath of Secrecy respectively.
The Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission Honorable Ofosu Asamoah noted that the Commission’s objective is to bring its services closer to where it is needed most hence the establishment of an Office in Tema. He called on all to patronize the services of the Commission at all times to get their cases resolved and to seek clarification on the provisions of the Act where necessary.
Mr. Andrew Kwabena Asamoah, Chairperson of the National Labour Commission in his inaugural address, said the newly opened Greater Accra Regional Office in Tema was the third Regional Office of the Commission to be established. He recounted that the Commission had already opened offices in Kumasi and Takoradi.
According to the Chairman, the establishment of the Regional Offices is to ensure the achievement of the vision of the promulgators of the Labour Law to have a flexible and affordable legal regime for labour adjudication in the country.
He noted that even though the Commission has its fair share of funding challenges, it is discharging its business of ensuring industrial stability and harmony for the protection of investments and job creation for the growth of the Ghanaian economy.
He disclosed that the NLC had handled over 1.2 million complaints since the 4th Commission assumed office in May 2018, indicating that it received an average of 80 to 120 complaints monthly.
He further stated that from the statistics of cases filed with the Commission, the yearly complaints have been ranging between 750-900 cases.
He bemoaned the rate at which workers employment are unfairly terminated indicating that in 2018 and 2019, the Commission recorded 905 and 815 complaints respectively, out of which complaint over unfair termination was 222 for 2018, and 202 for 2019, representing 25 per cent of the total number of complaints filed.
He said “This is a major source of concern to us as a Commission because it has adverse effect both on the employee who should otherwise have been in gainful employment but is being thrown out unfairly, and the employer who is also losing resources in having to pay compensations for no services rendered” he further stated.
Hon. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Eugene Korletey, Ag. Chief Labour Officer praised the Commission for opening an office in Tema, and especially because of its industrial landscape which he reiterated would lessen the workload at the head office.
The Minister also commended the NLC for its great work in ensuring a conducive labour front, and urged the newly inaugurated Committee Members to be committed to their mandate for the betterment of Ghana.
The social partners namely, the Ghana Employers Association, Ghana Trades Union Congress and Ghana Federation of Labour reiterated the importance of the NLC in labour issues and urged the government to address the challenges of the Commission such as, the lack of funds, under staffing and lack of accommodation among others.
As part of the program, there was a sensitization workshop for social partners on the Labour Act, which was facilitated by Mr. Fidelis Patrice Seddoh, a Legal Practitioner and Commissioner of the National Labour Commission.
He took participants through key aspects of the employment relationship as well as Labour Dispute Resolution and Unfair Labour Practices. His presentation was preceded by a General Overview of the Act.
The workshop concluded with a panel discussion on the work of the Commission and Dispute Settlement moderated by Mrs. Rose Karikari Anang, Deputy Chairperson with Mr. Francis Kofi Davoh and Mr. Ofori- Gyau, Commissioners as panelists.
At the end of the program, participants representing the social partners expressed their joy and appreciation to the Commission for taking such an important step to open a Regional office in Tema and pledged their support for the work of the Commission.