Dear ISA members
We have been inundated with emails and phone calls from very angry staff regarding the salary scale adjustment letters indicating in all these cases that huge amounts need to be paid back due to incorrect calculations and payments by the employer.
There seems to be total chaos with the employer’s left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing – after finalising and signing the agreement with Labour, the employer is now all of a sudden interpreting the agreement differently.
When ISA’s BLRF representative complained to Dr Mojaki Mosia, the new executive HR Manager, about this latest fiasco, he received the following reply:
The collective agreement of 2015/2016 explicitly state that, salary scale for employees on salary band A-C shall be implemented in two financial years 2015/2016 and 2016/2017.
- Phase 1 will be payable in 2015/2016 financial year, this is the 50% which was paid in November 2015. During this process some were paid 50%, some less, some nothing and some more. This 50% is progression towards the minimum of the newly approved salary scales.
- Phase 2 (the remaining 50% only if you are still below the minimum), will be payable in 2016/2017 financial year, this is to move all employees to the minimum of their respective grades (only those who are still below). This is what we are doing now in April 2016, the beginning of the new financial year. Since the year starts in April 2016, it means the agreement is honoured in time – this means there shall be nothing to be back paid to any employee (A-C) for phase 2. Each employee, effective April 2016 would be earning atleast at their respective minimum scales. It means end of this month pay run there shall be no employee earning below their respective grade.
I hope this provide clarity to the wrong perception that there is some “lump sum – back pay” to all employees this month. The only lump sum to some employees in April 2016, is for those who qualified but were paid nothing or less than 50% in November 2015.
So, YES Sugan, during this month APRIL 2016 100% implementation of phase 1 & 2 would be completed for all employees at grade A-C.
However, ISA’s interpretation is that the first 50% of the salary scale adjustments would have been paid in November 2015 and backdated to 1 April 2015 and the second 50% would be paid in April 2016 and also backdated to 1 April 2015.
This had led the employer to claiming to have overpaid staff over 50% in 1 November 2015 and also continued to overpay in December to March 2016. In discussions with the employer, we asked if the latter 50% could be used to deduct these overpayments so that the employee does not have to payback a lot of money in such cases of overpayment. This was agreed to.
Because of the new interpretation by the employer the employees have to pay back huge amounts to the employer and to top it all nobody understands how these figures were calculated. Even the local HR cannot answer the staff’s questions.
We have further requested an urgent meeting with the employer on Tuesday 26 April 2016 to discuss these issues.
If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily, STRIKE ACTION MAY BE IMMINENT.