Informal sector workers sensitized on employment regulations

Tumu, (UWR)-Ghana, Nov. 08, GNA – Employers in the Informal sector have been advised to ensure the people they engage are treated with standards provided for under the country’s labour laws.
Mr Godwin Bibariwia Fuo, the Upper West Regional Labour Officer, gave the advice during a presentation in Tumu on the domestic worker’s convention /regulation (ILO 189) training of informal sector workers on the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.
Mr Bibariwia defined domestic work as non-family members working for other people and indicated that it now included own relatives working as captured as domestic work.
He encouraged work owners to sign contracts of employment with people they engage to ensure the hours of work, rest periods, overtime benefits, holiday periods, and the leave period are all spelt out for the benefit of both parties.
He said there must be equal work for equal pay and that employees must receive wages not less than the minimum wage of GH¢13.53 per day or GH¢365 in a month or more.
Mr Bibariwia Fuo noted that no worker should be made to work for more than eight hours a day and called on employers to make it a point to compensate Workers who get injured during work.
He observed that monitoring and compliance challenges associated with domestic workers were worrying as the Sissala East did not currently have a labour officer to address them.
Superintendent Kumpe Dieku Gbele, the Sissala East Municipal Police commander, during a presentation on ILO convention 190 on sexual harassment and violence, noted that the criminal offences Act 1960, Act 29 Section 84 provides that a person who unlawfully assaults another person commits a misdemeanour.
He appealed to the various workplaces to put in place Written Anti- Sexual harassment policies to define, prohibit, investigate and sanction harassers.
Mr Osman Kanton, the Executive Director of Action for Sustainable Development, appealed to persons in the informal sector to respect the rights of apprentices working under them to promote labour and industrial harmony.