Ex-BMC employees demand their dues
Mpho Mokwape | Friday August 10, 2018 13:42
The 35 ex-employees are demanding payment after the Commission breached a package agreement saying they have suffered huge financial losses.
The claimed breach of agreement came as a result of BMC embarking on a restructuring process in 2015 that resulted in some employees being retrenched.
The Commission had embarked on a retrenchment process aimed at restructuring to improve its efficiency and services delivery and had engaged staff on the process.
Now the ex-employees, who have instructed attorney Uyapo Ndadi to demand payment within seven days, say the company failed to stick to agreed terms.
The ex-employees through a letter dated July 27, 2018 say following talks between the BMC and the workers’ union being the Botswana Meat Industry Workers Union, an agreed exit package was negotiated and agreed upon.
Those agreed terms amongst others being that, payment of 26 working days for each year worked, which in essence a monthly salary for each year worked, notice pay of five months’ salary.
More on the agreement was that the BMC will undertake leave pay to the employees, cancel training bond, allow housing loans to be settled as employees arranged with the bank, ordinary settlement before termination, company housing where applicable and lastly medical aid treatment/membership on a same terms of three months.
Despite these terms, the employees are crying foul on contention that all was discarded by the BMC and went with their own terms.
As a result the employees are demanding payment on the disparities on grounds that despite agreed terms, BMC decided to use its own separate packages.
“Despite the agreed package, the BMC decided to unilaterally pay using its own separate package,” read the letter.
The former employees note the Commission used 12 months’ wages as opposed to the agreed 26 days for each year worked, accrued gratuity, accrued leave and a two months’ notice as opposed to the agreed five months.
As a result the employees say the disparity in the packages resulted in them suffering huge financial losses as some worked for over 40 years.
“This therefore means that in a case an employee who has worked 40 years, BMC withheld 28 months’ pay plus three months’ notice pay,” read the statement.
The former workers have instructed their attorney, Ndadi to demand that they be paid their full retrenchment packages, which is less of what has already been paid to them within the seven days of the Commission receiving the letter.
The move is that unless they receive payment or an undertaking to pay within the stipulated terms they will proceed to engage court on the matter. Meanwhile, in 2015 BMC undertook restructuring in an effort to improve efficiency, which resulted in job losses.
Those who lost their jobs ceased their service with BMC in February 2016 and of recent there are reports of another restructuring process.