MINISTER: ALL HOLIDAYS AREEQUAL, DOUBLE PAY FOR WORKERS IF...

MBABANE – All industries in the country are expected to treat all public holidays equally.

According to the 2023 Regulations of Wages Orders, workers should not be forced to work during holidays unless they will be pay double the usual rate. The regulations were announced by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Phila Buthelezi, during the announcement of the 2023 legal notices of the Regulations of Wages Order. This announcement from government comes after years whereby tens of thousands of workers in the private sector were deprived the enjoyment of some public holidays. The workers in question were those from the 18 industries that are regulated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

Industries

These industries include manufacturing and processing industry, funeral undertakers, motor engineering trades, forestry and forest industry, retail, hairdressing, wholesale and distributive trades industry, mining and quarrying industry, hotel and catering industry, domestic employees industry, media industry, support employees in schools and educational institutions, transport industry and agricultural industry among others. “One major highlight in this year’s Regulations of Wages Orders is the removal of the table of public holidays that were said to be either ‘recognised or not recognised’ by that particular sector or industry as it has been the case for a long time now,” he said. The minister explained that legal advice that was obtained from the Attorney General’s Office was to the effect that it is not within the purview of the Wages Councils to pick and choose from among the lawfully designated public holidays.

He said this was because the declaration of public holidays was done through a distinct legislation, which is the Public Holidays Act No. 71 of 1938 by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Buthelezi added that the AG’s Office advised that once a public holiday was so declared, it was not given to anyone else to say they did not recognise a particular public holiday as doing so would be unlawful. For that reason, the minister said all public holidays were treated equally in the country and every sector or industry was expected to comply. The minister said in cases where an employer seriously needed employees to work during a public holiday, that employer would be expected to compensate the employees. The compensation would be a double pay rate or reimbursement in the form of two days off. The minister urged employers, mostly those in the sectors where they were not observing some of the public holidays, to comply with the law.

Commemorated

Some of the holidays that were not recognised by most of the 18 industries are National Flag Day, which is commemorated on April 25, Ascension Day commemorated of May 18 and the King Sobhuza Day, which is commemorated on July 22. During this year’s National Flag Day holiday, the minister paid a surprise visit to The Fridge Factory in Matsapha following complaints of working on a public holiday by the employees. Most industries at the time were not privy to the information that industries were supposed to observe public holidays. During a press conference yesterday, Buthelezi said his ministry had made it official that employees should not be forced to work on holidays. The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Secretary General (SG) Mduduzi Gina said they were pleased to note that there was at least coherence between the two government ministries, which are the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

He said public holidays were regulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs, therefore, it was a bit confusing that the regulator would announce a public holiday and then there would be another government ministry that would not recognise them. “We are pleased that finally there is coherence between the ministries,” he said. Gina went on to encourage parties at the shop floor to engage each other and come up with agreements that suite them in terms of the observation of any public holiday. He explained that there were some industries that couldn’t afford to be off duty during public holidays, such as transport workers and the media. He said a collective agreement was crucial to be reached by parties. “The negotiations, however, do not stop employers from paying workers according to the law once an employee works during a public holiday,” he said.

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