Employers express disappointment with NLAC

In a letter this week to the Ministry, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has expressed grave disappointment and concern over the lackadaisical approach of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) in making necessary amendments to legislation.

The letter sent to the Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge on Monday 10 December voiced the EFC’s dismay at the delay in making urgent and imperative amendments to current employment legislation in two key areas.  

The first would give employers the option of spreading the Saturday work hours over a five-day working week.  The EFC letter quoted the minutes from the NLAC meeting back in August which said “the Minister promised to submit a draft amendment at the next NLAC” for discussion.

However, at the NLAC meeting last week, instead of an amendment to legislation being presented, Ministry representatives stated that  the “ administrative relaxation” that had been provided for six months to allow a suitable amendment to be agreed on would now be extended for one year, because trade unions were opposed to any changes in legislation being made. The EFC pointed out that this was the second occasion where the NLAC had retracted its position after having reached an agreement.

The letter also reminded the Minister of the pre-Budget meeting held by the President, which had been attended by both parties.  The pre-Budget meeting invited chambers and employers organisations to make proposals with regard to the Budget.

The EFC had put forward proposals with regard to the spread of Saturday working hours over a five-day working week and also with regard to the relaxing of restrictions on night work for women in shops and offices.

At the meeting, President Rajapaksa concurred with the EFC that  amendment to the spread of working hours was required and inquired what the Ministry intended to do to resolve the matter. Confirmation that the NLAC would address the matter and bring it to a final conclusion was assured at that time.

The EFC letter stated that extending the administrative relaxation was not a final conclusion in the resolution of this issue, and again stressed the difficulties that the current working week laws posed for manufacturing companies, especially in relation to compliance regulations.

At the same pre-Budget meeting, the EFC proposed changes to laws relating to night work for women. Once again, President Rajapaksa agreed that the necessary changes to the law were very important and should be addressed without any further delay.

The EFC letter pointed out that the recently launched National Human Resource and Employment Policy clearly stipulated working environments had to be conducive to attract more foreign direct investment, especially in the BPO sector which is Sri Lanka’s big growth industry right now.

It also pointed out that the already poor rate of female participation in Sri Lanka’s labour force showed no signs of improving according to the latest ILO research.

The EFC reiterated that by simply extending the current “exempted categories” of female employees, to include women workers in the information technology industry and supermarket industry, the currently restrictive legislation would go a long way to expanding employment opportunities for women and also attracting foreign BPO companies to set up operations in Sri Lanka.

The EFC urged the Minister to take immediate steps with regards to these two important amendments to legislation which are imperative to achieving the development goals set by the Government.