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Namibia - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Windhoek

 

CLIMATE

Desert climate; hot and dry with rainfall sparse and erratic.

 

LANGUAGES

English 7% (official), Afrikaans (common language of most of the population and about 60% of the white population), German 32%, and indigenous languages: Oshivambo, Herero, and Nama.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Namibia’s legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and 1990 constitution.

 

CURRENCY

Namibian Dollar (1 USD = 10.30500 NAD as of May 15, 2002).

South African Rand (1 USD = 10.19000 ZAR as of May 15, 2002).

 

NAMIBIA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

NAMIBIA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Windhoek

Ausplan Building

14 Lossen Street

Windhoek, Namibia

Private Bag 12029

Windhoek, Namibia

Telephone: [264] (61) 221-601

Fax: [264] (61) 229-792

Email: windhoek@pd.state.gov

http://www.usembassy.namib.com/

 

Embassy of the Republic of Namibia at Washington D.C.

1605 New Hampshire Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20009

Telephone: (202) 986-0540

Fax: (202) 986-0443

 

NAMIBIA - HOLIDAYS

NAMIBIA – LEAVE

Annual Leave: The law mandates 24 consecutive days of annual leave.

 

Maternity Leave: 3 months of unpaid maternity leave.

 

NAMIBIA - MINIMUM AGE

Under the law, the minimum age for employment is 14 years, with higher age requirements for night work and for certain sectors such as mining and construction.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Namibia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

NAMIBIA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

There is no statutory minimum wage law.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Namibia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

NAMIBIA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

NAMIBIA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution provides for freedom of association, including freedom to form and join trade unions, and the Government respected this right in practice. Public servants, farm workers, and domestic employees also have this right. However, farm workers and domestic servants working on rural and remote farms often were ignorant of their rights, and unions experienced obstacles in attempting to organize these workers; as a result, they suffered abuse by employers. Trade unions had no difficulty registering, and there were no government restrictions on who may serve as a union official. Despite concerns created by a 1999 Ministry of Labor report that questioned a growing number of trade unions, the Government has not taken action to dissolve any trade unions.

 

Unions are independent of the Government and may form federations. The two principal trade union organizations are the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) and the Namibia Federation of Trade Unions (NAFTU). The NUNW and SWAPO are no longer affiliated but remain closely linked. The Mine Workers Union Investment Company, which consists of several large public service, teachers, mining, and maritime unions, is critical of the Government. Less than 20 percent of full-time wage earners were organized. Trade unions lacked capacity and resources. The Government recognizes the non-SWAPO aligned union federation, NAFTU, and treats it professionally; however, the NAFTU does not appear to have the same level of consultative access that government officials accord to the NUNW.

 

Except for workers providing essential services such as jobs related to public health and safety and workers in the export processing zones (EPZ's), workers enjoy the right to strike once conciliation procedures have been exhausted, and 48-hour notice has been given to the employer and labor commissioner. Under the law, strike action can be used only in disputes involving specific worker interests, such as pay raises. Disputes over worker rights, including dismissals, must be referred to a labor court for arbitration. The law protects workers engaged in legal strikes from unfair dismissal. Strikes are rare in the country. During the year, there was a strike involving workers at a fishing company in Luderitz town and another strike involving employees of the University of Namibia. Negotiations with management resolved both disputes.

 

Laws specifically protect both union organizers and striking workers from employer retaliation, and there appeared to be only isolated cases of retaliation. However, the scarcity of judges and lack of expertise in labor law causes lengthy and unnecessary delays. The new labor act, which has not been promulgated, includes provisions for binding arbitration to resolve most labor disputes. The labor law does not prohibit labor by non-union replacement workers, but most companies seek negotiated settlements rather than employing non-union replacement workers.

 

Unemployment, which is nearly 40 percent, remained a significant problem and affected primarily the black majority.

 

Trade unions were free to exchange visits with foreign trade unions and to affiliate with international trade union organizations. Unions exercise this right without interference.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law provides employees with the right to bargain individually or collectively. Collective bargaining is not practiced widely outside the mining and construction industries, which have centralized, industry-wide bargaining. Almost all collective bargaining is at the workplace and company level. However, as unions became more active, informal collective bargaining became more common. The Ministry of Labor cited lack of information and basic negotiation skills as factors hampering workers' ability to bargain with employers successfully.

 

The law provides a process for employer recognition of trade unions and protection for members and organizers. The law also empowers the Labor Court to remedy unfair labor practices and explicitly forbids unfair dismissals. Unfair dismissals occur when an employer terminates employment without following correct procedures and a substantially fair process. Unfair dismissals may be appealed to the Labor Court, and remedies include fines, compensation, and reinstatement, as determined by a labor court judge; however, there are not enough judges to address the backlog of cases. Parliament was reviewing new labor legislation, which provides for mediation and arbitration, at year's end.

 

Employers are required to give a registered union access to its members and to recognize the exclusive collective bargaining power of the union when a majority of the employer's workers are members of that union. This provision of the law has been implemented effectively.

 

There are EPZ's at the Walvis Bay and Oshikango industrial parks and a number of single-factory EPZ's outside of these parks. The law applies to EPZ's; however, workers in EPZ's were prohibited from striking, and employers were prohibited from engaging in lockouts. Some trade unionists continued to challenge the constitutionality of the agreement reached by government and NUNW representatives codified in the law because it limited the right to strike. Under the agreement, labor-related issues in the EPZ were referred to a special EPZ dispute settlement panel composed of employers and workers for expeditious resolution. If a dispute is not resolved at this level, it is referred to compulsory arbitration. With only a few businesses operating in the Walvis Bay EPZ, the effectiveness of this agreement in securing the rights of workers in the EPZ could not be determined.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced, compulsory, and bonded labor by adults and children; however, during the year, there continued to be media reports that farm workers (including some children on family-owned commercial farms) and domestic workers often received inadequate compensation for their labor and were subject to strict control by employers. Ministry of Labor inspectors sometimes encountered problems in gaining access to the country's large, family-owned, commercial farms in order to investigate possible labor code violations.

 

There were reports that UNITA forces kidnaped citizens and forced them to serve as combatants and porters in Angola (see Sections 1.b. and 6.f.). In January there was a report that the Angolan armed forces were recruiting persons under 18 years of age in the northern part of the country to fight in southern Angola against UNITA.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

Under the law, the minimum age for employment is 14 years, with higher age requirements for night work and for certain sectors such as mining and construction. Children below the age of 14 often worked on family-owned commercial farms and in the informal sector, and some also worked in communal areas. In 1999 the Namibia Child Activities Survey reported that of 444,751 children ages 6 to 18 in the country, 72,405 (16.3 percent) worked. The survey defined work as "for pay, profit, or family gain, even for 1 hour per day within the 7 days preceding the survey." More than 95 percent of those children classified as working lived in rural areas, which indicated that the majority of child labor occurred on farms. The survey also documented that of those children classified as working, 80 percent continued to attend school.

 

Ministry of Labor inspectors generally enforced minimum age regulations; however, the Ministry continued to lack labor inspectors who were trained specifically in child labor issues. There also were reports that Ministry of Labor inspectors reportedly encountered problems gaining access to family-owned, commercial farms to investigate possible illegal child labor. The Government has taken steps to end abuses, and the child labor problem has declined. There also were reports that Angolan and Zambian children worked on communal and cattle farms in border areas, although such occurrences have been curtailed since 1999 by the deportation of illegal immigrants (see Section 2.d.).

 

Criminal penalties and court orders are available to the Government to enforce child labor laws, which involve a complicated procedure that must be initiated through a civil legal process.

 

There are no specific remedies available to individuals for incidents of the worst forms of child labor.

 

The Labor Advisory Council, a tripartite board which includes government, union, and private sector representatives, sponsored a series of workshops during the year to sensitize and inform employers about child labor regulations.

 

The law also criminalizes and protects children under 18 years from sexual exploitation, child pornography, and child prostitution. The age of sexual consent is 16 years.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, the media reported that some children worked as farm laborers without adequate compensation (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

There is no statutory minimum wage law. In Windhoek's non-white urban area townships, many workers and their families have difficulty maintaining a minimal standard of living. Leaders of the Farm Workers Union have called for a minimum wage in the agricultural sector because of the low wages that some farmers pay their employees. The apartheid era disadvantaged non-white citizens in terms of wages and standards of living. After independence, many non-white citizens who were disadvantaged experienced a rapid increase in standard of living, particularly with respect to access to education, housing, water, power, and wages for those with at least a basic education. However, wage levels for the less educated majority have remained largely unchanged since independence.

 

The standard legal work week is 45 hours, and requires at least one 24-hour rest period per week. An employer may require no more than 10 hours per week of overtime. The law mandates 24 consecutive days of annual leave, at least 30 workdays of sick leave per year, and 3 months of unpaid maternity leave. However, in practice these provisions were not observed or enforced rigorously by the Ministry of Labor.

 

The Government mandates occupational health and safety standards. The Labor Act empowers the President to enforce these standards through inspections and criminal penalties. Labor laws generally are implemented efficiently. However, the Ministry of Labor lacks an adequate number of trained inspectors to monitor adherence to such labor regulations as providing overtime pay and social security by some companies, especially small, family-owned operations. The law requires employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of their employees. It provides employees with the right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations; however, some workers do not have this right in practice.

 

For example, in 1999 workers at the Navachab gold mine near Karibib occupied the control room at the Ore Mill and shut down production to protest the extreme heat and shortage of oxygen in the mine's metallurgy plant. A prior agreement between the mine and the mineworkers union gave workers the right to leave the workplace if they believed that their safety was threatened; however, mine management protested the shutting of the mill as an illegal industrial action and threatened to fine the employees involved. In 2000 the workers reached a compromise with management to set up an independent panel of experts to investigate whether there was an unacceptable health risk at the mill. The panel found that health risks existed at the mill, and management withdrew disciplinary measures against the workers. Although the management agreed to improve working conditions in the mill and to address other labor grievances, the company did not pay strikers for the time when they were engaged in the industrial action, penalized workers who occupied the control room by refusing to give them a month's salary, and issued written warnings to other mill workers who joined sympathy strikes.

 

The law accords the same rights to foreign workers as to citizens.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

Although the law does not specifically prohibit trafficking in persons, it does prohibit slavery, kidnaping, forced labor, including forced prostitution, child labor, and alien smuggling; there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

 

However, there were reports that UNITA forces kidnaped citizens and forced them to serve as combatants and porters in Angola (see Section 1.b. and 6.f.).

 

Police and immigration officials received training in combating trafficking in persons during the year.

 

NAMIBIA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard legal workweek is 45 hours, and requires at least one 24-hour rest period per week. An employer may require no more than 10 hours per week of overtime. The law mandates 24 consecutive days of annual leave, at least 30 workdays of sick leave per year, and 3 months of unpaid maternity leave.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Namibia – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)