Labour Ministry give Oriental Quarries 7 day ultimatum after workers go 3 months without pay

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has given Oriental Quarries and Shaan Carriers Limited a seven day ultimatum to submit a status report on salary arrears and abuse of workers.

Ministry of Labour and Social Security Commissioner Given Mutengwa explained that the government will not take kindly to any employers who breach the Labour Laws.

Mr Mutengwa stated that his office is in receipt of complaints from workers of Oriental Quarries which boarder on unpaid salaries, lack of work suits and lack of care for workers who get injured on duty.

The Labour Commissioner made the remarks yesterday when he led a team of inspectors, who carried out random inspections on Oriental Quarries and Shaan Carriers limited.

“Financial difficulties are determined by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and not your office, so the claims that you have liquidity difficulties momentarily do not add up. I urge you to approach my office to be conversant with the legal framework and know one should brag that they have connections with the government and use that to the detriment of workers as doing so is acting outside the law,” he advised.

And Oriental Quarries General Manager Karunanithi Karuppuchamy who labored to clarify the issues raised by the commissioner, admitted that his company owes the employees three months salary arrears.

Mr Karuppuchamy assured the team from the ministry that his company remains committed to settling all the differences with the all the 700 direct employees.

“We are owing workers three months salary arrears, with NAPSA and ZRA as well as workers compensation we are remitting though we are not up to date but we remain committed to meeting the obligations even in the wake of COVID-19 will still endeavor to do the needful in line with the law,” he assured.

At Shaan Carriers Limited, situated in Matero, the Labour Commissioner took management to task, to resolve the challenges that drivers among other employees are facing at the company.

Mr Mutengwa explained that he received a letter from employees of Shaan Carriers who complained of lacking the union and human resources department, signing blank contracts and use of vulgar language among others.

Here, the Labour Commissioner directed Shaan Carriers management to pay back the money deducted from workers due to burst tyres and provision of protective clothing as that is the sole responsibility of management.

“You should make sure that your 25 employees here have a union that is certified and refund them the money your office was deducting for burst tyres and use of protective clothing as that is your responsibility. The use of vulgar Language is something that should not be tolerated and anyone that does so is in conflict with the law and should there be halted,” he charged.

In response, General Manager Charles Chikwanda explained that his company will comply with the directives in line with the labour laws.

Mr Chikwanda assured the commissioner that the office of the human resource will be established but denied having used vulgar language, saying that he does not know how to use unpalatable language.