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A number of law makers in Sierra Leone have called on the Government, through the Ministry of Finance to provide more funding to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for the effective enforcement of the proposed Employment Bill, 2023.
The Minister of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Alpha Timbo stated that, a nation’s most important asset is the developed workforce, which should be smooth and running well.
He noted that, over the years the country’s employment laws have not only been obsolete and weak, but also lack the strong implementation process.
The Minister said that Labour standards comprising of rules and principles regarding the minimum standards recognised internationally for treating workers and employees have not been properly handled.
Timbo noted that labour standards are fundamental principles that should protect the basic human rights at the work places for which the government understands their importance and subsequently the review process was put in place in order to be able to have a legislation that will represent the current legalities in the country.
The proposed Bill may seek to strengthen and improve on the laws relating to labour and employment as well as providing for the promotion of equal opportunities and the elimination of discrimination in every employment and occupation areas within the country.
The Minister examined the content of the Bill when passed into law and the Acts that will be repealed to consolidate labour employment laws like; Section 116 (1), chapter 212 which talks about the Employer and the Employee’s Act of 1962, chapter 213 talks on the Registration of the Employee’s Act of 1947, chapter 214 talks on the Africans Labourer’s Employment Act of 1937, chapter 215 on the provision of force labour, 216 on the recruitment of workers act of 1941, chapter 217 on job regulations, chapter 218 on the machinery (safe work and inspections) rules, chapter 219 on the work’s man compensation, chapter 220 on the wages board, chapter 221 on the trade union, chapter 222 on the trade disputes and chapter 223 deals with the arbitration and inquiry into all of the industrial regulations (amended) Act 1947.
